


Lost Connection

by AsphodelRose87



Series: Until the end [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Children, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Auror Harry Potter, Aurors, Childhood Friends, Complicated Relationships, Extramarital Affairs, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, Family Secrets, Famous Harry, Father-Daughter Relationship, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Harry Potter is a Good Parent, Harry is a Little Shit, Harry is a Tease, Horny Harry, Horny Teenagers, Infidelity, Major Original Character(s), Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Muggle London, Muggle/Wizard Relations, Muggles, Organized Crime, POV Muggle Character, POV Original Female Character, Pole Dancing, Post-Hogwarts, Pre-Hogwarts, Starting Over, Step-Sibling Incest, Teenage Drama, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2020-10-26 04:02:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 188,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20735918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsphodelRose87/pseuds/AsphodelRose87
Summary: Harry is unaware that he is a father. Will he cross paths with the Muggle mother of his daughter, or will fate mean they pass like ships in the night?Sometimes, the line dividing what is right and what wrong is not very clear. Sometimes two can be right in an argument, and sometimes two can be wrong. Sometimes finding a solution for a life problem might be trickier than it seems. Sometimes people can make judgments and assumptions about other people life choices' without knowing the full context that led them to take that particular path.This story is about that. This story is about how sometimes there is no clear solution for a life problem. This story is about making bad choices and trying to correct them later. This story is about life, which is not always straight forward. It is full of ups and downs, mistakes and redemption.





	1. Chapter 1

**2nd August 1998**

Not long after the burial of those who had died in the battle, Shacklebolt asked Harry if he wanted to give a hand to the Auror Squad. Harry accepted without thinking twice, as the work would keep him busy enough to free him from digesting all the things that had happened in the past year. And God knows how much work there was in the Auror Department after the tragedy of the Second Wizarding War.

They had to free innocent Muggle-borns that had been sent to Azkaban; rescue missing people; return kidnapped young muggle-born children to the safety of their families or, if the families couldn't be found, give them to wizarding social service care; destroy dangerous dark-arts artefacts; find and arrest the remaining Death Eaters; help out the muggles that somehow had been affected by the war…

And it was one of those last cases that Harry was holding by his desk, analysing the folder for what probably was the fiftieth time. This was such a special case for him that he had asked permission from his supervisor to let him deal with it alone.

The mission itself was very easy and straightforward, and he probably would likely finish it in less than ten minutes. It consisted of paying a visit to two muggles that had lost close relatives during the war, making sure that they were all right, that a reasonable non-magical explanation for the deaths had been placed, and that no dangerous magical artefact, spell, jinx or curse could be found on their home. The only thing that made that mission complicated was that Annabel Morelli was one of those muggles.

Their last encounter had been _intense_. After a whole year apart due to a big misunderstanding, they had finally made up. He told her the truth about the magical world, the war, Voldemort, and his need to kill him. That time, Harry made it clear that even though he really liked her, a relationship was the last thing that he could afford at that moment. The night before he left to the Burrow, they slept together, and she promised to wait for him.

However, somehow it must have got to Voldemort's knowledge that Harry had an affair with a muggle girl in the past, and because of that, most of her family died at the hands of his followers. Luckily, she wasn't in the country when this happened, but unfortunately, they confused her with her cousin Jess who had ended up being kidnapped and kept as a prisoner in the Malfoy Manor with Luna, Mr Ollivander, and Griphook.

"Harry, I can't believe you still haven't done it." Neville said from after reading the files from Harry's shoulder.

"Mate, it's more complicated than it seems. Believe me."

"Yes, Luna told me about her. Is this the muggle girl you had a crush in the past, right? The one that was abroad when they got her cousin? "

"Yes, that's the one. And I kinda wish it was only a crush. Maybe it would be easier to deal with it."

"Harry, if you want I can do it for you. I can go there to check if she is all right, and then you can sort the things between you two."

"No, I need to do it myself. I want to do it. I want to see her more than anything."

"So why don't you do it?"

"I just… almost everybody in her family died because a bunch of Death Eaters realized that we exchanged a couple of letters ages ago. Look, I knew all of her family; I went to her mother's wedding, and her grandmother was just the kindest… You wouldn't understand, Neville. You just wouldn't!" Harry sighed, defeated.

"Well, try me."

"I feel like I should have predicted that something like that could have happened to them. They were all muggles, after all, defenceless to his power. I should have asked for someone in the Order to put them into hiding like they did with the Dursleys."

"Harry, you can't keep blaming yourself for every single death that was caused by those psychopaths."

"But I know that I could have avoided those. I know I could have. And they are the family of the girl I… I'm just glad that Voldemort didn't realise how important she was to me, or he might have put more effort in getting her. How am I supposed to look her in her eyes after this? After knowing that I had the power to prevent her mother's and her grandmother's death, and I just didn't do anything? You know that nobody would deny this to me. Anyone from the Order would have done this favour for me."

"Harry, you can't know what would have happened. Maybe if you had put her family into hiding, You-Know-Who would have guessed how important she was to you, and then he would have put much more effort in getting her. She is alive. You are alive. Both of you have lost family in the war, but both of you still alive. You need to go and help her to understand what happened. Besides, are you a Gryffindor or what?"

Harry gave his friend a grin.

"Ok Neville, you win. I will take tomorrow off and see if I can sort out the things between us. Actually, I think I might take a whole week off. Maybe take her on a holiday somewhere. Just wish me luck. She was always such a complicated girl when we were younger..."

After spending a sleepless night thinking if he should send her an owl or not before meeting her, Harry decided that he couldn't just put the words he wanted to say on a piece of paper. In fact, he wasn't even sure of what he should say, but he wasn't going to come back from his decision now. He was going to pay her a visit today.

Before meeting her, Harry decided to book two Eurostar tickets to Paris with a hotel included through a muggle tourism agency. He always had wanted to go to Europe, and maybe some time together was everything they needed. He also bought some flowers in a little shop next to the tourism agency.

Before apparating, Harry decided to wear his old invisibility cloak, as he didn't know for sure where he was going to land. He closed his eyes and thought about Annabel; he could almost feel the softness of her skin and the feel her long light brown hair on his fingers. He could see her honey colour eyes, gipsy's eyes, oblique and sly, acentuated by her unique ice-melting smile.

Once he flicked his wand, Harry was very surprised to find himself in the Little Whinging playground. He thought that she would be somewhere in London, where her mother's family house was located. But she was in the park, a few meters from where he had apparated. Accompanied by the least likely person he would have thought she would ever be seen with—her stepbrother, a massive jerk who had been the one responsible for the big row that Harry and Annabel had had before he left Privat Drive with Dumbledore two years ago.

* * *

**Few minutes before scene above…**

Three months had passed since Annabel had heard the news from her cousin about the end of the Wizarding War. Soon after, she had moved back to the UK, and she was slowly trying to rebuild the life that was harshly stolen from her dear family by Harry's enemies. Harry. _Why on earth hadn't he contacted her yet?_ What was he waiting for? Had he forgotten about the promise he had made to her? Or maybe she simply wasn't as important to him as she previously had thought.

Whatever the reason was, the lack of news from her wizard lover was making her heart sink. Jess and Dudley had both told her that this incessant war was definitely over; her cousin Jess had even spoken to Harry before and after the final battle, and she'd confirmed one thing: Harry Potter was alive and well!

Originally, she had tried to convince herself that the lack of communication must have been because there was still danger that he needed to fight. In fact, these suspicions were the main reason she hadn't told anyone who Holly's true father was.

Only she and her step-brother Geoffrey, the one that against all odds had unexpectedly shown himself to be such a good help when it came to Holly, knew. Together they were pretending to be a couple, and not even Jess or Matt knew that their flourishing relationship wasn't genuine. She wouldn't risk telling even her best friends until Harry emerged from the shadows and told them that they were safe, and everything would be all right. In her dreams, Harry would return and tell her that they would be together and that he would stay with her and Holly forever. But Harry hadn't come back yet.

Thinking everything over, Annabel closed her eyes in a deep rage towards Harry. How could he ignore all the death that had been inflicted on her family because of this stupid war? Her grandma, mother, uncle and step-father were all dead because of this stupid war. Couldn't he at least come to see if she was okay? Couldn't he spend five minutes of his precious time to finally meet their daughter?

As the rage towards Harry finally passed, she started to rationalise again. After all, Harry couldn't possibly know that they both had a daughter together, could he? Maybe he hadn't come back because he was feeling guilty because of her family's deaths. He had certainly acted that way before: blaming himself when his godfather died. It was quite plausible – such a typical Harry thing to do.

Annabel sighed as she adjusted her long hair behind her ears. She felt very depressed as the thought entered her mind that maybe Harry was just not coming back again. Maybe he would never get to know Holly, and Holly would never get to know her true father. That was it. She decided that he was not coming back. Annabel rubbed her eyes to get rid of an insistent tear. She would not cry again. At least not today. Geoffrey had put immense effort into organizing a picnic for the two of them; they were in Little Whinging, and Matt and Dudley had made an offer of free babysitting which was too kind to refuse.

Annabel looked towards the swing on which she and Harry used to play during summer holidays and drew in a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I should have brought you to somewhere else. You and he probably used to play here when you were young. I should have known," Geoffrey said regretfully.

"It's fine." Annabel answered, with what she thought to be a reassuring smile.

"I… I just thought that a picnic in the park was much more your kind of thing… but we can go somewhere else if you want."

"You were right. This is much more my kind of thing. Besides, I'm sure you'd agree it would be such a waste of good weather to spend a day like this indoors. And we both know that I need to get used to the fact that he is no longer part of my life. I need to move on."

Geoffrey reached for her hand.

"That's the smartest thing you've said in past few months, you know?"

"Oh Geoff, come on. I know that I have been such a wimpy girl, crying all the time. But you don't need to mock me about it."

"I'm not. It's the truth."

"Okay, I'll pretend that I believe you while you carry on pretending that I'm almost normal." Reaching for the basket, she asked, "So what have you put in this one, Geoffrey?"

"Well, I bought some red berries, made two baguettes and the best wine I could find from my father's cellar."

Annabel's eyes lit up. "Wow, brie cheese, Parma ham, grilled asparagus and… wait, is this cream made with figs?" she said while examining his work with a professional eye before taking the first bite. She tried to hide her unexpected disgust.

"What's wrong? Is it bad?"

"No! It's interesting. It's just a small overuse of some simple ingredients that shouldn't have been used in the first place. You know, things like salt, sugar and oil should be used with parsimony."

A**_ loud pop_** captured Annabel's attention. She turned her head to try and find its source, but Geoffrey – who apparently hadn't noticed the noise, or thought it wasn't worth his concern – continued talking.

"Oh no, let me try it!" and he quickly grabbed the other baguette and gave it a big bite. "It's terrible! Disgusting. You are such a bad liar!"

"Okay, I admit that I'm a little shocked that you managed to use all these high-quality ingredients to such bad effect…"

"Oh _sweetheart_, you don't need to be this harsh. You'll end up breaking my heart this way!"

"Sorry, _darling_. But as you said, even the amazingly bad liar that I am, it's safer for me to put my hands up and tell the truth – at least while we are by ourselves. And please, next time you plan anything food related, let me take care of it, okay?"

"Fair enough. And at least we still have the wine and the fruit. I dare say that not even I would be able to screw those up."

"Geoffrey, after these sandwiches I will never underestimate your aptitude for culinary disaster ever again. And about the wine; pass me the bottle; let me see what you grabbed."

He gave her the bottle – grinning as he imagined her reaction. Annabel looked at the label and her jaw dropped.

"Geoffrey! This bottle is from 1710! It's been stored for centuries!"

"Well done Bel; you know how to count!"

"Geoffrey, seriously? This wine must worth a small fortune. You can't just open a bottle like this for no reason!"

"Who said I'm opening it without a reason? Give it back to me" – he grabbed the bottle from her hands and opened it straight away, ignoring all her protests and poured its contents in a small decanter.

"Now, we let it breathe."

"I can't believe what you have just done! Can you now explain to me why did you decide to just open a bottle of wine that is surely worth thousands of pounds?"

Before saying anything, he held both her hands and got closer to her. He was so near that she could nearly hear his fast heartbeats.

"I opened that wine to celebrate the most important person in my life: you, Bel. The girl that I was never able to accept as a sister, the girl who could never understand that this immature boy who did the things he did because he loved you deeply in secret, who only did the things he did because he didn't know how to deal with this feeling. I love you Annabel Morelli. I really do."

"Geoffrey, I've nev…" she started, but he held her words, gently placing his hands on her lips.

"I opened this wine to celebrate you, Bel. When our parents first introduced us, I wasn't very nice to you. It took me ages to understand why I couldn't accept you as my sister. Just… ever time I see you dancing it's like the world stops turning around. Now I know that I've loved from a long time. And you, besides everything that I've done to you, have always been nice to me, even when I was a complete jerk to you. You, gave me the best present of my life: the most beautiful baby girl in the world who I have the honour to call my daughter."

Geoffrey held her around her neck and gave her a soft kiss. She froze unsure what to do, but allowed him to carry on kissing her nonetheless. She began shaking while tears ran down her face.

After a moment that felt like ages, they broke apart, and Geoffrey got a small box from inside his jacket. An engagement ring box.

"Oh, no, please tell me you're not doing this!"

"Yes, I'm doing it," he said while he was going down on one knee. "Well, we already have a daughter together; we already live together. I think it has passed the time for us to formalize the things between us."

Another '**POP**' noise in the grass near them took their attention. Bel felt a cold hush through her spine as she thought she would see someone or something near them. But no one was there, not even a rabbit or a squirrel.

"Bel, I think you already know the question I want to ask you, but I insist on asking you anyway. Annabel Dorothy Morelli, do you want to be my wife? Will you marry me?"

"Geoffrey, you are my step-brother for goodness sake! Can't you see that a relationship like that is just wrong?" She said shocked.

"How many times do I need to repeat this to you? YOU-ARE-NOT-MY-SISTER! Just because my father happened to hook up with your mother for a few years doesn't make it…"

"Geoffrey, watch out your mouth! I won't accept you talking about them like that." She said, really angry by his nasty words.

"All right! But you can't deny that you didn't like my father, and you can't say that you loved your mother deeply because you didn't. As I said, you've always been a very bad liar," Geoffrey said trying to make a point but only managed to get Annabel even more annoyed.

"You can't deny that our parents were married, which technically made us somehow related," she said, crossing her arms in annoyance at his rudeness towards their deceased parents.

"But you also can't deny that technically we also don't share any blood relation. Therefore, you are not my sister," he said, imitating her annoyance.

"Enough! I almost forgot how annoying you can be sometimes. You have been such a nice guy. I mean it! You have been my best friend this last year, helping me get my head around during all my pregnancy… and then, you accept to be Holly's father to protect us. You're always helping me take care of her and now… I can't say I was expecting that. I'm shocked! Two years ago you were a complete ass, the most egocentric guy on earth. And now… after all those years living under the same roof… I would never have imagined you had feelings towards me. I must say that I would never see it coming."

"You don't need to answer me now, Bel. Just keep the box, right? Wear it whenever you're ready, or give it back to me if you decide to wait for that freak until you start your menopause…"

"Don't you talk about him like that!"

"Sorry Bel. Old habits die hard..."

Annabel gave him a dark glare but decided to overlook it. She wanted to say that he was wrong, that Harry would be back sometime soon, that he just needed a little bit of time, but now she was starting to lose the hope of that too.

"I… you know… I still love him, right?"

"I know. But I'm confident enough that I can help you to get over it. If you just give me one true chance for me to prove you that I'm the right guy for you."

"I don't love you, Geoffrey. I like you as a friend; you know that, don't you?"

"I know that too. But we can try to build this feeling together. One year ago, you couldn't stand to stay near me for more than five minutes. Look at us now: a perfect team. Besides…I love you enough for both of us. Don't ever doubt that! Now, let's see if I at least bought the right fruits…"

* * *

_ **Few seconds before the scene above…** _

This wasn't happening, Harry thought in complete despair. It had to be a nightmare! How on earth could Annabel and Geoffrey be together? How on earth could they have a daughter? She hated him; he hated her! This whole thing didn't make any sense.

From under his invisibility cloak, Harry spotted Geoffrey's hand reach into his pocket and pull out the engagement ring box. Harry felt like he was going to be sick. He decided that he wasn't going to stay there any longer. It was too much to ask. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing this newly engaged couple happily celebrating their love together. _Not when he was also in love with the bride-to-be_.

Without waiting any longer, he disapparated near the Black Manor. After throwing the flowers in the first public rubbish bin he could find, Harry entered the old house, glad that everyone thought he was going on a holiday because he didn't feel like seeing anybody anytime soon.


	2. The magic begin

** October 1989... or, when Harry was nine years old  
**

"Careful boy! Turn down the oven, or you're going to burn the bacon! Let me do it myself! Are you never going to learn?"

"Sorry, Aunt Petunia."

"You can you at least make the table properly, can't you? Vernon and Dudley will be coming down at any moment, and you don't need to think that just because it's half-term you will be lying down doing nothing all day. There is a list of chores that I want to be done before we head off to Mrs Morelli's; do you understand?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

Harry sighed. At least he had that night's event to look forward to. That evening was going to be Mrs Morelli's granddaughter's birthday party, and for the first time, Harry had been invited to a child's party in the neighbourhood. Harry was certain that Aunt Petunia was only letting him go because the old woman had been very clear on her invitation that she wanted both boys to go. If all the kids from the street hadn't been invited and weren't talking about the party for the last two weeks, maybe Dudley wouldn't have wanted to go to the birthday party, and they would have been able to avoid their young nephew having fun.

Harry knew very little about the birthday girl, Annabel. She didn't live in Little Whinging; it was common knowledge that she lived in London and that occasionally she would come to Surrey to spend some days with her nan. Harry vaguely remembered seeing the girl at a summer fair two years earlier helping her grandmother sell cakes. Harry was there helping aunt Petunia to sell her strawberry jams and scones and had gone to the girl's stand to ask for some change.

Because it was near Halloween, all the kids were going to wearing fancy costumes. Aunt Petunia had bought Dudley a nice pirate costume with a captain's hat, eye patch, and everything! Harry, on the other hand, was sent without dinner to the cupboard under the stairs after being caught cutting two small circles on his bed sheet trying to make a ghost costume.

"You ungrateful brat! Destroying the things we give to you! You should learn to show more gratitude!"

Those were uncle Vernon words before announcing Harry's punishment. Dudley had taken it as another opportunity to throw another provocation towards his cousin.

"Why don't you go dressed like a bin bag? Goes well with your personality, don't you think?"

Harry didn't answer, but it was hard to suffocate his laugh when the garden water pipe started to follow Dudley around, making him look like a wet sea lion. Harry tried to be out of sight so the Dursleys wouldn't blame him this time because even though Harry had nothing to do with the crazy garden pipe, it was normal for him to be blamed to every time something unexpected happened in the house.

Luckily, no one remembered to blame him, and at half-past six, Harry, Dudley and Aunt Petunia walked to Mrs Morelli's house. A bouncy castle had been set out in their garden, as well as a trampoline and many other activities for the children. Lots of kids were there already, all wearing fancy costumes. Harry's heart sank when he realised that he was going to be the only child who wasn't going to be wearing a costume. Dudley's friends would probably mock him about it during the whole evening. Feeling a bit less happy already, Harry followed his aunt and Dudley, who was carrying a big beautifully wrapped present.

When they arrived, Aunt Petunia marched with them towards Mrs Morelli's direction. She was talking to Mrs Figg, who Harry knew to be the crazy cat lady who always looked after him when the Dursleys went out to have fun somewhere else. Both old ladies were talking to another younger woman who had a voluminous dark blond hair, which made her look like a lioness. Harry was completely clueless about the identity of this woman who was wearing very expensive-looking clothes.

"Petunia, dear! I'm so happy to see you. Glad you came, and with both boys as I asked! Let me introduce you to Helen, Annabel's mother and my son's ex-wife."

"Nice to meet you, Petunia; my ex-mother-in-law was telling everything about your very nice garden. You have a natural green finger, they said." She said while pointing to Mrs Morelli and Mrs Figg.

"Thank you, Helen. This is a very nice party. Did you organize it yourself?" Petunia asked.

"Oh, no way! I've been so busy with my work that I have no idea how I manage to find time to be here tonight! Dorothy and my daughter's au pair, have done all the hard work," Helen said, letting Petunia give her a severe stern look that Helen didn't notice because she was too busy analysing the difference between both boys that Petunia brought with her.

"So, are those two big boys yours?" Helen asked breaking the ice.

Harry almost read the conflict in his aunt's head. The woman was divorced, one thing that Petunia abhorred almost as much as she hated Harry. But she's also seemed to be very rich, the one thing that Petunia's liked to be surrounded by.

"Dudley is my only son. Harry's was my sister's. She died eight years ago in a car crash."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I lost my parents when I was young too. Well, at least you guys have each other, right? God knows how having a lovely carrying family is important. I will find Bel so your boys can give her the present".

And with that she left, leaving the three of them with Mrs Morelli and Mrs Figg. As soon as the three women started to talk, the present slipped down from Dudley's hand, and he went to the floor to run to meet his friends' Piers and Dennis, who were already enjoying the party.

"Dudley, come back here now!" Petunia demanded in a rare occasion when she was telling off her precious Ickle Diddykins. "I don't know what happened to my boy. He is usually is so polite!"

"Don't worry Petunia; let the children be children. If they don't enjoy life now, they never will!" said Mrs Figg, leaving Petunia feeling much more relaxed with that situation.

At that point, Annabelle's mum came back, bringing her daughter with her. The girl was wearing a witch costume, the black cone hat almost hiding her honey-coloured eyes.

Petunia picked up the present her son had thrown onto the floor and gave it to the girl.

"Happy birthday, Annabelle. I see you are having a beautiful party."

"Thank you very much, Mrs Dursley."

"Bel, this is Harry; he lives at Number 4 with his aunt and uncle."

"Yes, of course, I remember Harry. You were working at the summer fair two years ago! Did you enjoyed the cake I gave to you?"

"Yes, it was very nice. I made you a card." Harry said, pulling a folded paper from his pocket.

"Thanks." She unfolded the paper and saw a nice drawing of the cake she had given to him two years ago, along with a happy birthday message. She then looked at Harry. "You are not wearing a costume."

She said that smiling, but in a nice way; she wasn't mocking about it. Whatever her intention was, Harry felt that his cheeks were probably pink after the comment.

"Don't worry. I can sort this out," said Annabel while taking off her own witch's hat and putting it on Harry's head. She did the same with the dark cloak she was wearing, putting it around his shoulders. "Now you can say that you're a wizard, and I still look like a witch! Let's go; I want to introduce you to some of my friends."

Aunt Petunia looked like she was going to faint, but Harry couldn't care less. He took the hand offered by the girl and followed her into her grandmother's garden.

"Sorry, what's your name again?" the young girl asked.

"Harry. What game are your friends playing?"

"Blind man's bluff. Hey guys, this is Harry; he is joining the game!"

"You are going to be _it_, Harry!" said a blond ponytail girl that Harry recognized to be in the earlier years from his primary school. She gave him a blind that he took without further arguing.

"He just arrived! You should be a bit nicer, Jess," Bel told off the smaller girl.

"Why should she be nice to him? He is a freak!" Dudley had appeared from the middle of nowhere to bully his cousin.

"I beg your pardon?" Annabel had said, looking very annoyed with Dudley's reaction.

"Just look at his clothes, his messy hair, and his stupid scar! This boy is a freak and needs to be treated as such," Dudley said, repeating the same speech that was usually given by his parents. "And where did you get this hat from, freak?"

Harry was about to answer, but he was interrupted by the birthday girl.

"It is mine, I gave to him. Do you have any problem with that?" Annabel gave him a serious glare.

Dudley stopped a bit before answering as if he were considering if it would be a good idea to beat her up or not. She was clearly not from the town, and he didn't know how things worked in that area. And the place was full of adults as well… starting a fight in a place like this could be a dangerous game for him.

"You should be careful, girl. Don't mix yourself with freaks like him because it is contagious. If you spend too much time with freaks, you will become one of them."

"I've never heard so much silliness in my life! Anyway, it's my party, and I want to play! Does anyone want to volunteer to be _it_?"

Harry felt an immense gratitude to the girl who, in one evening, had managed to stand up for him not once, but twice in such a short period of time. He wasn't used to receiving kindness from people, and now a complete stranger was being kinder to him than anyone he had ever met before.

"I don't mind being _it_," Harry caught himself telling her. And he really didn't. He was used to be _it _anyway.

"Are you sure?" She waited until he gave her a positive nod. "You are _it _then!"

Harry did put the blind on, and the other children turned him around for a while, which made him feel momentarily dizzy. Then he started to hear the noises of children screaming every time he was near them. Some braver ones would go very near and even touch him just before sprinting away as far as possible. The third time someone did that, Harry was ready and grabbed one of the kid's shoulders. It belonged to someone who was at least one head shorter than he.

"You need to guess who it is!" A boy's voice that Harry didn't recognize shouted behind him.

Harry moved his hands over the person's neck, and he felt the long curly hair, which made him infer that the stranger was clearly a girl. Her skin was the softest he had ever touched, and it smelt like oranges and cinnamon.

"Kids, it's time to the magic show! Come on everyone!" One of the adults shouted in the background.

Everybody started to run towards the person that had called their attention. Everyone except Harry and the mystery girl. Harry and stranger girl stayed both still. Harry moved his hands to her small lips, and then he thought that he knew who she was. With her hands, she freed him from his blind, finally revealing her identity to be Annabel, the birthday girl. She was also blushed. Harry was sure that he was most likely very red too. However, they kept looking into each other's eyes, his green into her light browns.

"Bel! Here you are! We are just waiting for you to start the magic show. You should join the other children, young man." Annabel's grandmother, Mrs Morelli, grabbed Annabel's hand while guiding her through the crowd. She looked back her shoulders and gave Harry a shy smile.

* * *

**25** **th** ** December 1989**

It was Christmas morning, and Harry hadn't had any contact with Annabel since her birthday party. She didn't live in Little Whinging, and even if she did, Harry doubted that they would be friends. Dudley ruled their school, and he always made sure that Harry had no one to play with. Every time a new brave soul arrived to try to talk to the skinny dark-haired boy, Dudley went to show them what happened to those who were friends with his freak cousin.

It had snowed last night, and Harry was given the chore of shovelling the snow from the Dursleys' garden before Marge and her 'baby' monsters arrived for Christmas dinner later on. He was almost finishing it when he was interrupted by a snowball that hit him in the middle of his face. The cold snow burned his skin making him shiver.

"Ouch! Dudley, why don't you go to blow up some aliens on your stupid computer, and leave me alone?" Harry said towards the place that the snowball had come from.

However, it wasn't Dudley's voice that was giggling from that spot. Harry cleaned his glasses and saw Annabel laughing at him while holding another snowball with one hand and a sledge in the other.

"You? What do you think you are doing?" Harry said angrily.

"Snowball war!" She answered before throwing another ball in his direction.

But Harry was well prepared this time and avoided the hit going down the floor while getting some more snow to throw on her direction. He missed her face, but he got her back. She tried to hit him again and missed by two inches. They carried on playing the game for a while. Harry was clearly the winner, partially for his previous experience avoiding Dudley's attacks, partially for his natural agility. It was not very long before she was begging for him to stop.

"Peace! Peace! I'm sorry for hitting you, Harry!"

It was Harry's turn to laugh.

"Annabel, that's what you get for messing with someone who is working."

"You can call me Bel. That's how my friends call me. And, you have almost finished anyway, right? You're there for ages! I was watching you through my nan's window. Why doesn't your cousin help you?"

Harry felt his chicks turning pink.

"He is inside busy doing other stuff. Are you here for Christmas, then?" Harry asked her, trying to change the subject of their conversation.

"Yes, my dad is here! He came all the way from America, and he brought my baby sister for me to meet! She is such a cute baby! You should come to my nan's to see her."

"Oh, I didn't realise that your mother was pregnant."

"Of course she wasn't! She is my _half-sister_ from my dad's side. She lives with him in the US."

"Oh, I see!" Harry had never thought about the possibility of half-siblings before. Now that she explained it, the concept made sense, and he felt a bit embarrassed for not realising it before.

"So, do you want to go sledging? My cousin Jess is meeting me at the park."

Harry looked behind to the Dursley's house. They certainly wouldn't allow him to go. But would they notice if he left just for a little bit?

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea…"

"Come on, you don't need to be a chicken! I can hold your hand!" She winked at him while giving him a cheeky grin.

"Hey, I'm not scared!"

"Prove it then! The last one to get there is a rotten egg!" After saying this, she started to run without waiting for his answer.

"Hey!" He was going to tell her to stop, that he wasn't allowed to go. But then she would be _sure_ that he was afraid of sledging. Instead, he decided to put the shove on the ground and follow her.

Years after that, Harry would end up forgetting that he wasn't allowed Christmas dinner that day and spent the rest of the day locked under the stairs because of his mysterious three hours disappearance. But he would never forget how much fun it had been going sledging with both girls, especially with Bel. That day he could say that he got his best Christmas present so far: a friend.

* * *

After that cold, snowy Christmas day, Harry and Annabel started to exchange letters with the help of her grandmother. Annabel would post letters to her nan, who would hand them personally to Harry every time he went to her house to cut the grass. The boy would usually do the same in order for his mail to reach Annabel, but sometimes he would manage to sneak some stamps from the Dursleys and would post his letter directly on the mailbox.

In the beginning, their letters were nothing more than children's drawings with short messages, but soon they became confessions between the two pre-teenagers.

Annabel would tell Harry everything about her ambition to became a professional ballerina and how she dedicated herself to doing ballet classes four days a week. She also told him how she hated the self-defence classes that her mother obligated her to take; how she expended too much time in after-school clubs and au pairs and too little time with her mother, who worked day and night as a police inspector, even though they had quite a lot of money, and she didn't necessarily need to do so. She revealed to him her secret passion for cooking that she had gotten from her nan and how the thing she wanted the most in her life was to have a dog, but she wasn't allowed to have one because her mother said it was too much a hassle. She told him how she sometimes wished she could go to America to live with her father and her sister, or maybe to live in Little Whinging with her grandmother and be able to play with him every single day!

Harry, however, would tell her how he wished his parents hadn't died in the car crash, or how he wished he had any other relatives alive that weren't the Dursleys. He told her that he had never seen a picture of his parents before, and he confessed that he often liked to imagine how they looked. He also confessed to her his desire of leaving that place one day… maybe he could go to America with her. He even told her some of the minor bullying incidents he would suffer from the Dursleys, and how he had to hide her letters because of the fear that his relatives would prohibit them keep in touch with each other. Later on, he also confessed to her that she was his only friend, as Dudley always made sure to blackmail others at their school.

The years passed, and even though they only saw each other during brief school half-terms and some weeks of their summer holidays, their friendship had grown strong. Harry would leave the house of his relatives without being noticed and would go to her grandmother's where they could play far away from Petunia's severe sternness. Sometimes he would manage to escape from Mrs Figg's house after she fell asleep while watching TV. Overall, Dudley seemed to be the only one in the family to realize the growing connection between his cousin and Mrs Morelli's granddaughter.

Sometimes Dudley would spot Harry and Annabel together and would throw some venomous comments towards his cousin:

"Why don't you show your _room_ to your _girlfriend_, freak! Does she know where you sleep?" Dudley said mentioning the cupboard down the stairs that Harry had instead of a bedroom.

"Bugger off, Ickle Diddykins." Harry would answer after losing his temper.

"What did you just call me?" Dudley said, grabbing Harry's t-shirt neck.

"He told to you bugger off!" Annabel shouted while tried to position herself between both boys. "You think you are amazing, don't you? Beating up a boy half your size! You should leave. You're not welcome here."

"Yo ho, the little rat can talk!" Dudley said after throwing his cousin on the ground to go after her. "Let's see if she can squeak too." Dudley said while grabbed her neck in a chocking position against a tree.

"Dudley, STOP!" Harry claimed in horror, while trying to position himself between them.

A branch from the tree fell straight onto Dudley's head, making him let the girl go straightaway.

"Run!" Harry said to Annabel while Dudley was still trying to recover from the unexpected strike he had suffered. Bel was still in shock after suffering from the unexpected attack from Harry's big cousin.

Harry and Annabel ran non-stop until they reached a small pond that was located in the furthest place they ever been in the Little Whinging park.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked her.

"I… I think so. I should really start paying attention to those self-defence lessons my mom makes me take. But I still can't believe that your cousin attacked me…"

"Dudley can be... violent sometimes."

"Is he usually this bad?"

"He is usually worse." The girl looked shocked "Don't worry, I'm used to it. It's rare that he managed to get me anyway… you see, luckily I'm much faster than he is."

"Harry… this is bad. Why didn't you tell me that it was so bad? Why don't you tell his parents? I know that they are overprotective about your cousin, but this… this is serious! He could really end up hurting someone. Maybe if I ask my mum to talk to your aunt about that…"

"No please! Please, you can't do this. It's would just make the things worse for me. Please promise you won't tell this to anyone." Harry begged to her with such despair that she had never seen in those green eyes.

"Ok. I don't really understand why it would that make things worse, but if it's how you want it… I respect your decision." she said reluctantly.

Harry sighed in relief. They stayed in silence for a short moment, and then he said looking deeply into her eyes.

"If only I could leave this place… if only I had somewhere to go… then maybe I would be happy."

The girl held his hand and put it near to her heart.

"One day you are going to be very happy Harry. And you are going to have a real family too. You will have a lovely house, with your wife and kids. You might even have a dog!" she said with her usual cheeky grin.

Harry smiled at the sight of her description of his future; the idea she painted of it was much brighter than the one claimed by his relatives.

"I'm happy when I'm with you, Bel." He sighed. And he dragged her to the grass, and both of them lay down while analysing the different shapes the white clouds made on the blue sky.

"Look, that one near that very circular one… don't you think that it looks like a turtle?" Harry said, trying to break the ice.

"No, that one definitely looks like a hippo. Can't you see its pointy nose?" she asked while touching her own nose.

"Yes, you have a point." Harry said while trying to find more funny shaped clouds to point out; suddenly he decided to share a thought that had just come into his head – "Imagine how cool it would be if we could touch the clouds in the sky? Imagine if we could fly without those aeroplanes… and touch the clouds."

She giggled at his comment, and Harry felt afraid that she had found his idea stupid.

"But of course we can fly!" Bel said holding his hands tighter "You only need to close your eyes and imagine it".

And so he did. He concentrated all his thoughts imagining him and Annabel flying around Little Whinging. He could even _feel_ the cold wind kissing his messy hair, his weightless body floating in the air fighting against all the gravity laws. But what really shocked him was what he felt when he opened his eyes and realised that he and she were both really floating two meters above the ground. She had her eyes closed, but she seemed to be enjoying the sensations the same way he was.

"You were right, Bel! We are flying!" Harry said excitedly.

The girl opened her eyes and left a shock and disbelief short scream escape from her mouth, and she loosened her hand from his hand, which made her start falling. Just before it was too late, Harry managed to hold her and slowly both of them landed on the ground.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked her a bit worried.

"I'm fine. We were flying! Did you see it? How did you do that?" She said in shock.

"Well, you are the one that told me it was possible…" Harry told her unsure of how they end up floating in the air five seconds ago.

"Yes, but I didn't think it really would work. Not really." She was still in shock with what had just happened.

"I don't know how it happened. But I enjoyed the feeling of being in the air."

"Me too," She said giving him a weak smile. "Maybe we should give it another go and try again?" She said with her usual cheeky smile.

"POTTER! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME? LET ME GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"

Harry heard his cousin voice shouting from far away. Harry grabbed Bel's arm before it was too late for them to speak with each other.

"Tomorrow is Dudley's birthday. The Dursleys are all going to the zoo; while they are out, I will stay with Mrs Figg. Meet me there; I will figure out a way to escape from the cat lady."

"I'll see you there. Now go!"

Harry sprinted as far away from the park as he could. For Harry's luck, however, Dudley miraculously decided to stop chasing him this time, which saved the young wizard from being transformed into Dudley's punching bag once again.

Unknown to him, the next morning he would end up going to the zoo with the Dursleys instead of meeting his friend. Also unknown to him would be that he would make the glass disappear to free the Brazilian snake, and he would be grounded for the next two weeks, leaving him no chance to speak with Annabel before her flight to the US. In fact, the next time they would see each other would be just after Harry would meet Hagrid and finally finds out everything about the Wizarding World.


	3. Owl post

**"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?"**

**"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

**"Why?"**

**"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

"**_But could I tell only one muggle about magic?"_**

"**_Why would ya do that? Anyway, doing that, it's against the Ministry Laws. You wouldn't want have problem with them, would ya?_**

Harry was unpacking his newly bought school materials and organizing them on his bed. He couldn't believe everything that had happened during that day. Hagrid, the truth about his parents, Diagon Alley, Gringotts. He was a wizard, and he was going to attend Hogwarts in September.

He had just named his owl Hedwig, a name he'd found in _A History of Magic_, a few minutes before setting her free to hunt. When he heard a noise coming from his window, he thought he would find the white owl, but instead, he had a very nice surprise. Annabel was throwing stones to his window, trying to call his attention.

"Harry! You are here! I've been throwing stones in all the windows. I'm so glad that you are the one who noticed it first! Do you think you can come out?"

"Bel, you're back!" Harry gave her a large smile.

He hadn't heard from her in ages! She had sent him a couple of postcards from the United States, to which he had replied with a letter that she hadn't returned.

"Yes! I just got back from the U.S. Look, the most amazing thing just happened to me. Come down, I need to show you something!"

She looked like she had gotten a letter from Hogwarts herself! _Would that be possible?_ Harry thought with his heart beating fast.

"Yes, I have some very good news too! I mean, so good that it sounds unreal! Wait, I will be there with you in a second!"

Harry quickly went down the stairs, remembering to jump over on the noisy last step. All three Dursleys were watching TV, and Harry managed to silently sneak out through the kitchen door without causing any further drama.

"Let's go to the park!" Harry said once they were far enough from the Dursleys' garden area. It was almost nine o'clock, but it was still light in the sky.

Harry noticed that Annabel looked radiant. He probably was looking like that as well; he just had had the best day of his life, after all.

"What do you need to show me so badly?" Harry asked while crossing his fingers for it to be a Hogwarts letter.

She got a paper from her pocket, but it wasn't the same parchment that he had gotten from the witchcraft school. It was a folded letter in regular paper, in_ muggle_ paper he thought.

"Look!" She pointed to the letter. "I've been accepted! I've been accepted to the Royal Ballet Lower School, which happens to be the best ballet school in the country! This means that I may have a chance to be a real ballerina one day"

"I thought you were a ballerina." Harry said feeling a bit confused. She was always doing ballet classes. Even when she was in Little Whinging for a holiday she would do some walk-in classes on the local studio. He really didn't understand much about this 'ballet world' that she lived in and was always talking about.

"I've always studied hard to be one. Now I might actually have a real chance of being one."

"Congratulations. You worked hard, you deserve it!" Harry said feeling a bit awkward. He was happy that she had also been accepted to a good school, but he wished that this school was the same one he was going to.

"Harry, I'm sorry, I think I'm being a bit tactless. I'm here talking about my amazing school, and you are going to Stonewall and all," she said looking a bit guilty.

"I'm not jealous of you if that's what you think" Harry said with a reassuring smile, "and I'm not going to Stonewall High anymore."

"What? Don't tell me that the Dursleys decided to send you to Smeltings with Dudley?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"No, luckily they didn't. It's away better than you can possibly imagine!" Harry said teasing her.

"Will you stop this suspense and tell me, please?"

"I'm being offered a place in the same school my parents went to. It's a boarding school in Scotland."

"I'm so happy for you! So you're finally going to leave the Dursleys'!" she said giving him a weak smile. "The only sad thing is that we probably are going to see each other much less frequently now. I was so happy that my school is not far away from here. I might be coming to my grandmother's every other weekend from now on. But your school is so far away. I don't think you'll be able to be back on the weekends."

"Well, we'll still have the summer, and I promise to write you all the time."

Once he said that Hedwig landed next to him; it was like she was listening to their talk the whole time.

"Wow, look that bird!" Annabel said shocked with the proximity of the owl.

"Her name is Hedwig," Harry said while petting her beak. "She'll be delivering my letters to you… and you can answer me back with her help."

"She is so beautiful Harry! Can I pet her?" Bel asked.

Harry nodded.

"It's so _magical_! An owl delivering our letters. Where did you get her from? Are you sure she will manage the travel from Scotland to London?"

Hedwig looked at her as she had just being insulted. Harry, however, looked a bit unsure.

"She was a present from the guy who came here last night to give me the invitation for the school. He told me that trained birds are the best way to send letters home because our school is very far away."

"Which guy?"

"An old friend of my parents. He told me that the school is very far away, and it's not always possible for a postman to reach it, so he gave me Hedwig as a birthday present." Harry said thinking that this had surely been the best birthday of his life.

"Oh, Harry that reminds me…" she said while pulling two packets from inside her pack. The first one she opened herself, and it was revealed to be a small strawberry cake. "Happy Birthday, my friend! I was so excited about telling you all the good news about my new school that I completely forgot I've been baking this for you during the last three hours! Here is a proper present too."

"Thank you!" Harry said looking her work with admiration "You shouldn't have…"

"Yes, I should. Now tell me everything about this friend of your parents that you met. How is he? What does he look like? Did he tell you things about your parents?" She asked very curiously, and he sighed before he started to tell her other bunches of half-truths and a small bunch of lies.

It was the first time he had to tell a lie to her in order to keep the secret about the wizarding world from her. And it wouldn't be the last.

* * *

**Someday in May 1992**

"_Dear Harry,_

_You sounded very worried in your last letter. Please calm down! Even if this Professor Snape of yours does manage to steal something from your school, it won't change your life, right? It's not like he plans to murder someone, I guess. Besides, have you thought about telling an adult? _

_Here in the Royal Ballet Lower School we can always go to our housemother if we have something bothering us. Although I believe that she would get a bit mad if I suggested that I believed that one of our teachers was trying to steal something from our school. Honestly, I think there is not much you can do about it._

_Anyway, my life has been a little bit stressful at the moment too. My body hasn't figured out yet how to do that complicated point work that I mentioned to you in my last letter. The worst thing is that I know that it will be part of our assessment. If I don't get it right before our appraisals, I know that I won't be accepted to come back here for another school year. That's why I just MUST get it right!_

_Last weekend I went out with my mother and her new boyfriend and his super annoying son. The silly boy won't stop messing with my hair. They really freak me out, both of them, father and son. I can't stand having them both as part of my life any longer. I know that I do sound selfish when I say that, but I really hope that Mum and "Mr Right" break up soon._

_And please, try to stay away from trouble, and don't get yourself another detention, right? Don't give people even more reason to marginalize you and your friends._

_Lots of love,_

_Bel_

_P.S. – When does your summer holiday start? I'm planning to stay a couple of weeks with my Nan, but I really want to do it when you're around."_

Harry was in a corner in the library reading for the third time the letter he had gotten from Annabel earlier that evening during dinner. He was scanning her handwriting, trying to find some comfort from it, but it was in vain. How was it possible for him to explain to her how the world would collapse if Snape managed to get that stone? How could he say to her that he might not even be alive during the summer's holiday if this robbery takes place?

"Harry! Here you are. Hermione asked me to get you. She apparently planned some mock tests for us based on previous first year's examination." Ron said, resigned.

"Hum… ok." Harry said, finally folding up the letter and keeping it safe in his pockets.

"What's up, mate? You look… sad. Did Hedwig bring you bad news?" The ginger boy asked while pointing to the letter that already was in Harry's pocket.

"Oh, no. I just… don't you feel weird that we are revising for school exams when _he _might get the stone anytime?" Harry said lowering his voice so no one else could hear him.

"Oh, this. I suppose it is a bit weird. But you know Hermione… I don't think anything would stop her from revising. Not even if Hogwarts were under attack!"

"I suppose so. Let's not keep her waiting then," Harry sighed, resigned while following his best friend.

* * *

**Someday in September 1992**

"_Hi Harry,_

_I hope you are well. I can't believe how ridiculous this new teacher of yours is. This 'Professor Lockhart' seems to be the definition of narcissistic personality taken straight away from a psychology textbook. I've never met him in person, but just reading your description of him makes me feel glad that I haven't. Surprise tests about his favourite colour and asking for your to help him to answer his fan letters as punishment? Impossible not to dislike this guy! Have you thought about complaining about him to the students' office? Just an idea._

_What have you done this time to get yourself a detention at the beginning of the term? You haven't told me that in your last letter. Are the troubles following you around again, or you are the one trying hard to get into them? _

_My school year has also started, and thankfully, with much less drama than yours. It's very nice not to be one of the 'new birds in the nest' anymore. I bet you are feeling the same. I even do have a little job of helping one of the new girls to settle down. The only 'bad' thing is that now I will have extra classes on Saturdays, which means I will have much less free time from now on. I'm not really complaining because, as you know, dance is my life! _

_My school principal announced that some students from the years eight and nine are going to be selected to be part of the _ _Nutcracker_ _ in the Royal Ballet in December. Please wish me luck; I really want to be one of the lucky selected students!_

_Lots of love,_

_Bel"_

Harry smiled silently while was folding Annabel's letter away. He loved when Hedwig came back with a message from Bel during the morning owl post. This always made his day a bit brighter.

"How is your friend doing Harry?" Hermione asked while spreading some jam on her toast.

"She is fine. Her school is selecting some students to be part of the _Nutcracker_… she hopes to get a place in it."

"Nuts what?" Ron asked, confused.

"It's _Nutcracker,_ Ronald. It's a famous muggle ballet. I've watched it on TV once… it's so beautiful!" Hermione said in a dreamy voice.

"So… is your muggle friend going to be on TV?" Ron asked, interested.

"No Ron, I don't think so. I think it's more likely to be in a ballet theatre. And she doesn't know if she'll get the part anyway. She just said that she hopes to be picked." Harry answered his best mate.

"Muggles are complicated." Ron sighed.

"I told her about Lockhart. She thinks that we should complain to the course coordination about him." Harry said hoping to hear his two best friend's opinions about Annabel's suggestion.

"What is wrong with Professor Lockhart?" Hermione asked.

"Well, 'Mione, isn't it obvious?" Ron asked indignantly. "What the hell does knowing that his favourite colour is lilac have to do with the subject he teaches?"

"I think that Professor Lockhart is brilliant!" The girl said, blushing as she stood up immediately.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked, annoyed.

"Library. I need to get some citations for Snape's essay."

"Girls are complicated." Ron sighed again once Hermione was far away from the Gryffindor table.

Harry just nodded in agreement while he wondered if Annabel's opinion about Lockhart would be any different if she had been exposed to his award-winning smile and blond curly hair. Harry felt a small knot in his stomach when he thought about that. He really wished that Bel's opinion would remain the same, regardless of how attractive Professor Lockhart could be.

* * *

**Someday in December 1992**

"_Dear Harry,_

_It seems that you have the gift of making your whole school turn against you. How do you manage to get yourself into so much trouble? Just because they think you are blood-related to the person who is attacking the students in the past doesn't prove anything against you! And even if you were related to the leader of this gang who is beating up students (What a horrible thing! I hope they catch the aggressors soon!), it doesn't give them the right to treat you like that._

_Luckily, I don't have this gift for trouble that you've got, otherwise, I could be in big trouble. The ballet world is very competitive! I've heard nasty stories of ballerinas that had glass put inside their pointed shoes because they had been chosen to perform a principal role. Just the thought of being bullied like that gives me chills!_

_It's very sad that you won't be able to attend my ballet presentation. Having you watching me on stage would mean a lot to me._

_With love,_

_Annabel_

_P.S. – I've sent you a scarf that I made myself! My cousin Jess has been teaching me how to knit. She is very good at it, but as you can see, I didn't inherit her talent. I know that it looks horrible but it's still warm."_

Harry was sitting next to the window in the Gryffindor common room when he opened the package that contained the scarf. It wasn't a neat job, but he could tell that she had clearly put some effort into it. He was touching it with care, thinking about how she had done it with her little hands.

"Hey Harry! Is our little sister carrying on our mother's tradition of gifting their loved ones by giving them some horrible knitted piece of clothing?" Fred said, pointing to the scarf in Harry's hands.

"Pardon?" Harry asked, genuinely confused by this question.

"What my dear brother was trying to ask is: Did Ginny make this for you?" George asked.

"Oh, this scarf? No! I've got it from a friend." Harry said, blushing slightly.

"_Little Ginny has a rival_. Hurray!" Fred said, cheering the air.

"Maybe they could duel for your love under Lockhart's and Snape's supervision." George said, faking a very serious tone of voice.

"And they both could make snakes send love messages to you… shhhhe shhhlove youssss Sssarry." Fred said, imitating a snake.

"_Shut up_!" said a very blushed Harry while he noticed that some girls nearby looked at them with interest as they giggled together.

"We will stop!"

"But only if you tell us who she is."

"Which House is she in?"

"What is her surname?"

"What is her horoscope sign?"

"And what's her blood type?"

"This is all very important information, you see…"

"Because we need to know who is crazy enough to date the great great great great…"

"Great, great, great, great, great grandson of the snake house founder."

Harry really wished he had his invisibility cloak with him. The Weasley twins never had made him feel so embarrassed before. Luckily, the holidays had started, and the common room wasn't very full.

"I'm not dating her. I told you, _she is just my friend_," Harry whispered.

"Well, I don't think that this was the answer for any of our questions, am I right, George?"

"She doesn't attend Hogwarts. She is a muggle, you see," he said, shortly and dryly; Harry usually was quite fond of the twins' sense of humour, but it wasn't very funny when you were the one they're making fun of.

"Sorry, Harry. We didn't mean to make you angry." George said apologetically.

"Maybe a little bit annoyed. But just a little bit. Sorry if we've crossed the boundaries." Fred complemented the apology.

"Just let us know one thing…"

"Is your girlfriend pretty?"

Harry didn't answer them this time. He just gave the Weasley twins a mortal glare and marched back to his room.

* * *

**Someday October 1993**

"_Hi Harry,_

_I'll apologise in advance because I know that this probably won't be a big letter. It's almost curfew time here, and I couldn't find another time to write to you. I'm so full of homework from my classes and so many steps that I need to practice. Sometimes I just wish the day had some extra hours!_

_I went out for a dance-in with Matt and some of his mates from the senior years, and I must confess: I'm falling in love with South American dance. It's a rhythm full of happiness and joy, and there are so many different musical styles. I'm picking it up very fast. I'm starting with salsa bachata and Colombian salsa, but I definitely want to learn some samba and maybe some lambada dance later on. _

_When you get back to Surrey, we should go out dancing together sometime!_

_Lots of Love,_

_Bel"_

Harry felt a wave of mixed feelings when he finished reading Annabel's answer to his last letter. She said she didn't have time to write him a proper letter, but she had time to go out salsa dancing with her friends - _male friends_. However, in the same letter she had asked him to go out 'dancing together' sometime. What the hell was she trying to say?

Harry was bitterly wondering how weird it would be if he, who never had danced anything in his whole life – unless you counted the times he had been hit by the _tarantella spell_ – were to dance with an almost professional dancer. It would be comic if it wasn't almost tragic.

He decided that it was better to organize some thoughts in his mind before answering her letter. It was a normal thing for Annabel to go dancing with boys. She did go to a dance school after all. But why was he feeling so mad imaging her doing that?

* * *

**December 1993**

"_Dear Bel,_

_I really don't know how to start this letter, but I need to share this with you, otherwise, I think I might explode. There are things about my parents' death that I've never mentioned to you before. The same day I received the news that I had been offered a place in my parents' old school, I was told that my parents didn't die in a car crash. They were murdered. _

_However, what I didn't know until today is that the reason that they were murdered was that they'd been betrayed by their best friend. This guy who betrayed them happened to be a famous murder – you might have heard about Sirius Black? I'm sure I saw some news about his escape on TV last summer. This man also happens to be my godfather. _

_I was in a pub, and I heard some of my teachers talking about it. That's how I found about out about it. I've never felt so mad at someone or something in my whole life. I wish I could do something to make him pay. I don't think that anything would be bad enough for him. I've just seen a picture of him… from my parents' wedding. He was the best man. And I can't help but wonder if he was already planning my parents' deaths at that time. _

_I'm sorry for not telling you the real story behind my parents' deaths before. As you can see, it's not the most cheering of the subjects. Now that I've found out how they were betrayed, I felt the need to share it with you. _

_I hope you are well._

_Lot's of love,_

_Harry"_

Harry read the letter once more, just to make sure he wasn't telling her anything that would break the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. After folding it and putting the letter in an envelope, Harry went back to bed, but he didn't sleep. Thoughts about Sirius Black betraying his parents would keep him awake during the whole night.

* * *

It was Saturday night, and Annabel had just finished having dinner with her mother and her mother's boyfriend and his son Geoffrey at their house. The young teenage boy was taking pictures of her, and she was trying to ignore him. Annabel knew that if she gave him attention, then he would know that he had succeeded in his eternal '_let's get Annabel very annoyed'_ mission.

She was pretending to read a book when a white owl dashed into their living room.

"What the hell is that?" Geoffrey exclaimed, pointing to the bird.

"It's an owl," Annabel answered dryly.

This called the attention of both adults, who were deeply talking while drinking some wine on the sofa.

"Bel, take this bird to your room. I told you that I don't want it anywhere near my Persian carpet!" her mother insisted without leaving her lover's embrace.

"Hedwig, come here with me girl." The snowy owl flew straight to the girl's right arm. "I have some treats for you upstairs," Annabel said, quite glad to have an excuse to leave the room.

But to her disappointment, she was being followed by Geoffrey. She tried to ignore him, wishing that he would stop at the first-floor restroom and would let her go to her room in peace. But when he carried on following her to her room, she had no other option but to acknowledge his existence. He had stood by her room door, making it impossible for her to shut it down without making a scene.

"I'm sorry, have you lost something?" she asked him trying her best to remain polite.

"No. I'm perfectly fine," he said, simply shooting another picture of her.

She blinked, momentarily blinded by the camera flash.

"Okay. In this case, I don't want to be rude, but I've got things that I would like to do," she said, making a move to close the door, but he was faster and held it in a way that it was impossible for her to shut it.

"Actually, I have a question. Since when do you have an owl?"

"I don't have an owl. She is Harry's pet. Anything else?" she answered, annoyed.

"The _Scarface_ had to be involved on it! You have a very bad taste on boys, did you know that?" He said spiting his venom.

"And you have a very bad taste for jokes. Excuse me, but I really need to go," she said using his distraction to shut the door straight into his face, finally forgetting any attempt to remain civilized with him.

After she locked the door, she opened the letter. As she began reading it Annabel went white. She bit her lip and looked at Hedwig.

"How am I going to manage to answer to that?" Annabel said to herself while wishing that she could find a magical solution to her friend's suffering.

* * *

"_Dear Harry,_

_I really wish I could go all the way to Scotland and answer your letter with a hug. I know that there is nothing that I can say that will make you feel better, so give yourself a hug and pretend that I'm the one giving it to you._

_I won't say that I know how you are feeling because it would be a lie. The only thing I can do is try to put myself in your shoes and imagine how I would feel. My father lives very far away, and you know that my mother isn't the most present person in my life, but they are still alive. I used to see my parents almost like immortal creatures, but you made me realise that someday they might not be here to help me anymore._

_Knowing your life story, how you grew up without your parents, has made me see how lucky I am just for having my parents, and now that I know that your parents were murdered, I understand that it was not fate alone who took them from you. It was a person… a cold-hearted man whom they believed to be their best friend. There is no worse treason than that! _

_I think that if I was in your place, I probably would be extremely mad, wanting revenge… I believe that's more or less what you are feeling. Actually, that's exactly how I am feeling now. I feel like death wouldn't be enough punishment for this man…just because of the suffering he imposed upon you and for all the days that you have to live in a world where your parents are not alive. _

_You really should talk to my mother about it. I think if there is anyone in the world who could understand, at least a little bit, what you have been through, I think that it would be her. She'd lost her whole family when she was just eighteen. Both of her parents, her older brother, and her twin sister died because of a gas leak we had here in my house. Luckily, she had her Uncle Robert and my father who helped her to get over her depression._

_You know what? Sometimes I think that's the reason why she is such a workaholic. She never truly believed in the investigators' version about the leak. She said that the house didn't smell like gas when she entered. Yes, she's the one who found their bodies. It's almost as if she wants to put her frustration of that cold, unsolved case on the cases she works with. It's like she wants to make sure that all investigations are going to be done properly from now on._

_At least that's what my Aunt Jenny, Jess's mother, told me. _

_Anyway Harry, I really do hope that you manage to get the peace of spirit that my mother never managed to achieve. I want you to know that even though we are very far from each other, you can always count on me. _

_Lots of love,_

_Bel_

_P.S.– I'm sending you some chocolate brownies that I've made especially for you. They always seem to cheer me up."_

Hedwig had returned with Annabel's answer one week before Christmas during the regular morning owl post. He was really touched by it, especially when she shared things about her mother's personal life.

"Hey Harry, what's in that tin?" Ron asked him curiously.

"Just some chocolate brownies that she made for me."

"Can I have one?" the red-haired boy asked greedily.

"Sure, help yourself," Harry answered him without taking his eyes from the letter.

"Ronald! You can't have brownies for breakfast!" Hermione exclaimed, annoyed.

"Why not?"

"It's for dessert! Harry will keep them until after lunchtime, won't you, Harry?"

Harry looked at Hermione, and only then he realised that she was talking to him.

"You can keep it safe for us 'Mione. I think I'm going to go for a walk," Harry said, standing up from the Gryffindor table.

"But I thought we were going to the library to research for Buckbeak's case," Hermione said slowly.

"I will catch up with you there," Harry said, leaving his two best friends in the Great Hall.

While walking on the path to the Owlery, Harry's head was invaded by thoughts about Annabel's mother finding the corpses of her whole family when she was only eighteen. Then he also thought about how it interfered in the relationship between mother and daughter. Harry didn't want to end up like that. He didn't want Sirius Black, who had been the one responsible for ruining his past, also to be responsible for ruining his present or future. No, he wouldn't let it happen.

Once in the Owlery, Harry quickly wrote a message.

"_Dear Bel,_

_Thank you very much for your kind words. They mean a lot to me. _

_I think you did understand me much more than I thought anyone would. You are a very special girl. I really wish that hug was real, but just the thought of it made me feel better. You calmed me down._

_How is your family doing? Are you finally going to spend Christmas in Italy this year? _

_Lots of Love,_

_Harry_

_P.S. – Thank you very much for the brownies. I'm really looking forward to having them after lunch. Well, if my friend Ron manages to keep some for me."_

Hedwig was flying back to London once again.

* * *

"_Dear Harry,_

_I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better. You are also a very special boy, and I wish we could spend more time together. It's a shame that we live so far away from each other. I swear that if ballet wasn't so important to me, I would beg my mother to transfer me to your school in Scotland, just so I could be near you._

_Unfortunately, it won't be this year that I'm going to spend Christmas in Italy with my father's distant family. We are spending it here with her boyfriend and the git – also known as his son. _

_Geoffrey is really getting on my nerves. Would you believe that he broke into my room and read all our letters? He even set fire to a couple of them. I think I've never felt so mad at him before._

_He's always stalking me around and taking pictures of me with that professional camera he got on his birthday. It's very creepy. But my mother and Mr Right are always so busy enjoying each other's company that they never say anything about it._

_Can I join you at your school and spend Christmas with you? Please tell me I can! _

_Lots of love,_

_Bel"_

Harry felt a wave of rage when he read Annabel's letter. Who did this Geoffrey think he was to read Annabel's correspondence and stalk her around her own house? Why didn't the two adults who were with them tell him off?

"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked, concerned.

Ron and Hermione were playing a wizard chess match while Harry had planned on reading and answering his muggle friend's letter.

"Hermione, is there a way I can protect the letters I send to my friend? A boy she doesn't like very much broke into her room and read all the letters I've sent to her!" Harry said angrily.

"Oh Harry, that's awful!" the girl exclaimed.

"Send a box with a very nasty jinx to the nosy guy. I'm sure the bloke will think twice before breaking into her mail again," Ron said with a mischievous look.

Harry who had heard and seen enough about Geoffrey bad actions, decided that Ron's idea wasn't to be ignored.

"Yes, I think I might do that," Harry nodded.

"No, Harry! You cannot do that! You could be expelled, or even arrested! Using any form of jinx, spell, or potion on a muggle is very illegal. Unless, of course, you are doing something to save their lives or to protect them somehow, doing otherwise would most certainly bring you trouble," Hermione said worriedly.

"What do you suggest then? That Harry stays calms while a complete jerk carries on spying on his letters?" Ron said restive.

"No, I didn't say that! But I think that Harry should use a different approach." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"What do you suggest, then?" Harry said intrigued.

"Well… maybe instead of sending a box with a nasty jinx, send her a box where she can keep her letters safe from unwelcome nosy eyes."

"I don't really get what you mean," Harry said confused.

"Let's go to the library… I think I know the book that has the correct spells!"

* * *

"_Hi Harry,_

_Thank you very much for your Christmas present. This ballerina music box is so cute! I will do it as you suggested and use it as my new letterbox. It's going to be the new home for all the letters you send me._

_My school term is starting tomorrow. I really can't wait to go back to my school. I'm missing my friends, my classes, and especially dancing with my friends. And this term is promising to be especially nice because we are going to have a visit from one of the best ballerinas in the world. I really can't wait!_

_Some gossip about my dramatic family: I'm going to have a baby brother! Apparently, my dad got a nineteen-year-old pregnant out of wedlock for the despair from his future ex-wife, also known as my younger sister's mother. My mother now is telling for everyone who wants to hear that she always imagined that something like that would end up happening sooner or later._

_I'm feeling a bit awkward with this entire situation. I'm happy because I am going to have a brother; sad because my father is going to leave my sister Emily the same way he left me - growing up without a father; annoyed with my mother's comment about my father (even though, I must admit: she does have a point); and very shocked that my father is having a relationship with a woman who is only five years older than me. _

_How are your friends doing? How is the football training? Any news about the capture of that certain individual that I prefer not to mention? I hope you're well._

_Lots of love,_

_Bel"_

"Your plan worked Hermione. She is using the music box to store her letters," Harry said folding the letter and keeping it safe on his jacket.

He was still annoyed with her after having his Firebolt confiscated by McGonagall, but he had to give her the credit for coming up with the box idea.

"That's good! Now only she or any of her decedents can open the music box. Not even a wizard can see its contents without her permission."

"Not that she will have many wizards wandering around her possessions; I mean, she is a muggle, right?" Ron asked.

"It's better be safer than be sorry," Hermione concluded.

* * *

"_Hi Harry,_

_I'm sad to hear that your best friends are not speaking with each other anymore. It must be awful for you… to be in the middle of their fight. Hermione has a point when she says that there is no proof that her cat has killed Ron's rat, even though it's very likely to be what happened in the end. But I'm sure that sooner than later they will make up, and everything will be normal once again._

_Professor Lupin seems to be very kind helping you develop your science project. I would like to hear about this project!_

_I'm very upset at the moment for two big reasons. The first one is that I fell from the stairs last week, and I injured my ankle. I'm very worried because I won't be able to dance for at least three weeks according to the physiotherapist. He also said it could take a bit longer. The problem is that I CAN'T afford to spend so much time away from my dance lessons. The appraisals are coming up, and I need to be in my best shape soon!_

_The second thing that is upsetting me is that my mother and Mr Right are going to tie the knot. I know that I should be happy for them, but I really can't help it! The only thing I can think about is that George and Geoffrey are going to move to my house soon. I have never been gladder to be studying at a boarding school. _

_Lots of Love_

_Annabel"_

Harry thought about feeling really worried about the prospect of Geoffrey living in the same house as Annabel. He didn't trust that fellow. Harry thought that if that guy did something nasty against Annabel, he would most certainly ignore Hermione's advice and would end up sending him some jinx by the owl post.

He looked around the Great Hall and saw Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker, whispering and giggling with one of her friends. She was very pretty, and Harry felt a strongly attracted by her oriental beauty since their Quidditch match. At the same time, not long ago, Harry had started to imagine scenes of him and Annabel kissing and doing other things that made him blush.

After putting her letter in his pocket, Harry decided that he needed to find out a way to better understand the feelings he had for both girls.

* * *

"_Dear Bel,_

_Happy Valentine's Day. This rose I'm sending to you is a flower that is unlikely to die, no matter the conditions in which you keep it. It's part of my science project I told you about. The legend says that this flower only dies when the true love dies. I hope you like it._

_I feel very sorry that you'll have to live with 'the git' from now on. I've lived with Dudley; I'd know more than anyone else about how terrible it is to live under the same roof as a bully relative. But if he does anything nasty to you, he will have to answer it to me. I won't accept him stalking you around, messing up your things… or doing anything else who might invade your space._

_With love,_

_Harry"_

When Harry was able to conjure the red rose while thinking about Annabel, he was surprised that he realised that he was in love with the muggle girl. Professor Flitwick had mentioned the spell, which was known as the _proof of love spell_ the week before Valentines' day. Harry decided to try performing the spell. For his own astonishing, he managed to do it without a big effort. It meant that while Harry carries on loving Annabel, the flower would stay alive. If it died, meant that he had no longer romantic feelings for her.

* * *

"_Bel,_

_A miraculous thing happened: my friends and I found out that my godfather didn't betray my parents in the end. I'm looking forward to telling you all about it once I'm back to Surrey on the 19_ _th_ _ of June. _

_Harry"_

Annabel was on the school patio thinking about the dryness of Harry's letter. He had never sent her something so short before.

"Hey Bel, what's up?"

Annabel's recognized the voice belonging to her favourite dance partner in the world: her friend, confident and classmate, Matt.

"Nothing really. I'm just thinking about my life…"

"Harry."

"Pardon?"

"Harry, the owl guy. You are thinking about him."

She blushed.

"You should tell him. I think he likes you too."

"How can you know? You've never met him."

"That flower he sent you on Valentine's Day? I've never seen anything more romantic than that in my life."

"We're friends! That's why he sent me that."

"Oh, really? And I'm Santa's reindeer! If that boy doesn't like you, my name isn't Matthew."

Annabel sighed, and then she finally asked him.

"Matt, how do I tell a boy that I like him?"

* * *

"_Hi Harry,_

_I've been thinking a long time about us."_

Annabel threw the paper in the bin. Shamefully, there was no such a thing like 'them'. At least not yet.

"_Harry,_

_Every time I think about you, I feel like I'm about to explode."_

Bel stopped. Writing this would very likely scare him. So she decided to discard her second attempt at writing.

"_Harry,_

_I really like you. I mean it. I like you the same way a girl likes a boy… or the way a woman likes a man. Or two human beings could possibly love each other."_

Annabel shredded the paper into a pile of tiny pieces before throwing it away. The quality of her lines was lessening. This wasn't good at all.

"_Harry,_

_I asked my mother if I could bring a date to her wedding, and she said that I could. I was wondering: would you like to go to her wedding with me as my date?_

_Xx_

_Bel"_

After reading it for what seemed to be the hundredth time, Bel decided that the message was clear, simple, and direct, and she hoped he would understand. She also hoped that Matt's predictions about Harry's feelings were right.


	4. Two love birds

Harry received Annabel's message the day after Professor's Lupin resignation. He was happily surprised by the girl's inviting him as her date for her mother's wedding. Harry knew that he had nurtured feelings other than simple friendship for the muggle girl for a while now, and now she had implicitly said that she wanted to be something more than his pen-pal and friend. He was more than willing to try having something with her. For this reason, he just couldn't keep the silly smile off of his face.

"Harry, what's the problem with you today? You just let me destroy your queen in less than three moves," Ron asked incredulously.

"Ron is right. You've seemed a bit 'over the moon' since you received your friend's letter. Is there anything you feel like sharing?" Hermione, who had been watching the wizard chess game, had also decided to make a comment.

Part of Harry didn't want to tell his friends. The other part, however, wanted to shout it for everyone to hear.

"She asked me to be her date for her mother's wedding," Harry decided to say in the end.

"Wow! You are going to have a snog!" Ron said a bit loud, which made a few people turn their heads to their direction and giggle.

"Thank you for being so discrete Ron," a blushed Harry told off his best mate.

"It's great, Harry! You have been liking her for a while now, haven't you?" Hermione grinned.

"I guess so. I'm glad she did ask me though. I think I would never have dared cross that line unless I was a hundred percent sure that she liked me back. She's always been my friend and all…"

* * *

Despite the fact that he had to use metaphors in order to tell Annabel simple things about his daily life, Harry found out that sometimes it felt very comforting to read her letters and see her thoughts about his problems. He also enjoyed reading her problems and things about her daily routine.

On the other hand, it was very difficult for the muggle girl to fully understand everything that was going on in Harry's head and on his magical school's grounds. He couldn't really tell her anything about Voldemort and the true meaning of his scar. Because of this, it was really hard to make her realise the real danger that he was constantly facing. In the same way, it wasn't easy for Harry to comprehend the importance that ballet had in Annabel's life. He never really realised the amount of time that she had to devote in order to make her body perform a slightly more perfect leap. He didn't understand why she had panicked so much when she had to stay away from the dancing classes for three weeks because she had a very small injury to her left ankle.

However, despite living in completely different worlds – the magical and the ballet world – and being unable of fully understand each other's little problems, somehow they managed not only to preserve their friendship, but to deepen it even though they weren't able to see each other as often they would have liked. For Annabel, Harry was the friend that she had managed to stay in touch with on a regular basis outside her school. For Harry, she was the only muggle that had ever been friends with him.

Despite all the differences, they also had a nice dynamic that was based on a mutual respect for things they didn't quite understand the other, but they accepted that side without much questioning.

The other thing was the strong attraction that they had always felt for each other; even though in the beginning they were too young to realise and understand those feelings that they had nurtured, it was becoming more and more clear every year when they finally got to see each other during the summer breaks.

Annabel would always try to get back to her nan's every time Harry was on summer holidays from Hogwarts. During those days, most of the time Annabel was there alone, but sometimes she was accompanied by her cousin Jess, who also lived in Little Whinging, or more rarely, by Geoffrey.

One thing that Harry had learned about Geoffrey through her letters was that he was a very spoiled, arrogant brat. After meeting him for the first time, he understood completely what she meant by that. Geoffrey had the personality of Draco Malfoy and Dudley Dursley combined. When introduced to Harry, the muggle boy wouldn't stop making disguised jokes about Harry's lack of fashion or the fact that Harry's hair was so messy that it looked like a bird's nest.

It hadn't been a very easy task to convince the Dursleys to let their '_troubled freak nephew'_ spend a whole week at the girl's house in London. It took a great persuasive intervention speech made by Annabel's grandmother for them to accept. After the wedding, the Weasleys would pick him up so he would be able to attend the Quidditch World Cup. Harry knew that this would probably be the best summer of his life!

Annabel and her mother lived in a six-bedroom Victorian house in the borough of Islington, not very far from Angel tube station. It was a big house for only the mother, daughter and French au pair who lived with them, but Annabel's mother refused to move anywhere else. It had been her parent's house after all. The luxurious look of that place made the Dursleys look like poor people.

Harry had never been in a ballet studio, but he thought that Annabel's room probably resembled one. The room was all white with details in purple, and a big mirror that covered one of the walls and a ballet bar had been put in front of it. She also had a double bed next to the window, a desk and two wardrobes – one for her ballet costumes and another for normal clothes, she explained to him. Harry stayed in one of the guestrooms, which he thought to be much nicer than his actual room. The room in which Harry stayed was next to the room that was going to belong to Geoffrey once he moved to the house with his father.

During the days Harry spent in the company of the muggle girl, he got to see a bit of muggle London in a way he had never done before. They didn't do the touristic things because Annabel and her au pair Lauren were very busy organizing last-minute wedding details. But they got to go for nice walks and bicycle rides around the Regent's Canal and Angel area. Harry, who had never ridden a bicycle before in his life, - Dudley would have rather died than lent his bike to Harry –learned very quickly.

On his third day in London, he went on a muggle suit hunt with Annabel and Lauren. The girl had decided to give it to him as an early Christmas present. Harry tried to protest, but the girl was determined to get him nicely dressed for her mother's wedding.

"I know that you don't own a decent suit, and don't you even dare show up to my mother's wedding wearing your school uniform!"

Harry kind of agreed that he needed the clothes, but it didn't feel right having her spending loads of money on him while he had a small fortune of gold buried somewhere not far from them. But as he didn't have a muggle credit card, he had to accept that he would need to pay her back another time. It took more than fifteen different tries of suits, shoes, shirts and ties until both females were satisfied with the final result.

Even though Annabel despised her mother's wedding, she was the one who was taking care of its organization because her mother was very busy working on a _very important case_. The only moment that Harry had seen her mother at home was when the woman stopped by to pack some clothes to take for a work travel that she was going to make. Only then did Harry realise that Annabel had not over-reacted when she had written to him telling him that it had been _weeks or months_ since the last time she had seen her mother.

Little progress had been made on Harry and Annabel's _dating_ so far. The only thing that had changed between them was that they were extremely shy around each other. Annabel seemed to be waiting on Harry to make the first move, but he didn't want to do anything with her au pair around, and he was sure that the woman was following them everywhere. The most that he had done until that moment was hold her hand and kiss her cheek when they were taking the bus back home after one of their walks, and it had taken him all his Gryffindor courage to do so. He was compensated for his gesture when Bel leaned her head on his shoulder for the rest of the journey, but no proper kiss had happened yet.

One of the things she had decided to make herself were some cupcakes to give as little wedding favour presents for the guests. It was two days before the wedding, and Harry and Annabel had spent most of the afternoon decorating the little cakes that she had made. Well, she was decorating… Harry was 'testing the flavours.'

"Those are looking like professionally-made ones, Bel. Your grandmother will be very proud when she sees them."

"Yes, they are looking good, aren't they? Harry, can you please help me put these I've finished in those little plastic boxes? When Lauren comes back with the ribbons she can finish them with you. She is very good with it." Bel pointed to the boxes while she carried on putting the icing on the cupcakes.

"Sure…"

Harry was about to start to transfer the little cakes when she went running on his direction.

"Wait! Wait! Wait, Harry! I completely forgot!" she said while she sprinted to the sink to wash her hands.

She got a little box from a top shelf and went to where Harry was waiting.

"I completely forgot that I ordered these personalized chocolates to go on the top of each cake."

"Mr and Mrs Harrison? So is this going to be your mother's last name?" Harry asked, interested.

"Yes, and I'll proudly carry on being the only Morelli in the house. Why does the woman need to add the name of the man and not the other way around? It's such an ancient rule."

Harry had decided to make the most of the rare moment where her au pair wasn't present and moved a bit closer to the girl.

"Well, if you prefer you can keep the Morelli. But I would love to call you Annabel Potter one day," Harry said, taking her chin, making her look up, straight to his eyes. She was one head shorter than him. He could see every single inch of her face.

"_Harry_! Look what you are saying! We're only fourteen!" She sounded overwhelmed, but she was still smiling. She put her hands on his hair.

"A boy can dream, right?" They were centimetres away from each other. Harry could hear her heartbeat.

"You got icing on your lips." It was the last thing Harry heard her say before their lips touched for the very first time.

It was at this precise moment that they heard steps coming from the front door. They broke up the un-started kiss immediately, and Annabel went running back to work on the icing. Harry wondered if Lauren would be able to notice that anything different had happened between them.

"I 'ad to go to three deeffrent stores, but I did get zee pur-pell ribbons," the au pair said showing it to them.

"Nice job! Maybe you could help Harry box up those that are ready," Bel said.

Harry was impressed at how she had managed to keep her expressions hidden so well.

"By zee way, I 'ave just received a call from your _mére_. She told me zat she took part in the… 'ow do you say…the detainment of an international trafficking gang in Greece. She asked me to inform you zat she ees getting the first flight back home. She mentioned zat she should be 'ere before midnight."

"How kind of her! She decided to join us on her own wedding day. I was seriously thinking that I would have to call everyone and tell them that it would have to be cancelled because she couldn't be bothered to attend her own wedding. I must say that I was actually quite happy with this prospect," Annabel said sarcastically.

"My mother is really unbelievable! What woman goes to another country a day before her wedding to hunt and arrest a bunch of criminals? Please tell me because, as far as I am concerned, she is the only one!" Harry had never seen Bel so angry with someone before.

"Now tell me! Tell me if she knows the type of flowers that she is having at the church? Tell me if she knows anything about the table settings, the music that is going to be played… pick anything about the wedding, and ask her to see if she knows. She won't know, and do you know why? Because I've done most of it on my own! You know what? I don't know why I even care… nothing I do seem to be good enough for her anyway."

Harry didn't dare make any comment about it, nor did Lauren. For a moment, Harry was certain that Bel would start to cry, but she started to work on the cupcakes again, which made him feel very glad. The three of them carried on working in silence for awhile, and when all the cupcakes had been neatly placed in their boxes and all the washing-up had been done, Lauren approached Annabel.

"Bel… you know zat tonight was supposed to be my night off…" she started. "I believe zat your _mére_ thought she probably would be back at zis time. I know zat I shouldn't leave you alone… but tonight ees my friend's birthday. I thought zat maybe zis could be our little secret?" the au pair asked, feeling slightly bashful.

Annabel was grinning from ear to ear and looked like Christmas had arrived early.

"Of course! I promise my mom won't know a thing about it!"

"_Merci beaucoup_! You're ze best! I am going to order a pizza for ze both of you. It is my treat."

* * *

Annabel watched her au pair Lauren leave the house by the window on the TV room. She had planned to watch a movie with Harry, and maybe do other _things_ in between every other boring scene. She knew that the kiss that she had been imagining for the past couple of months was finally going to happen.

"She is gone!" Annabel smiled, looking at Harry, who was serving the soft drinks on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

He smiled back. "So, which movie do you want to watch?"

"I really don't mind. You can pick anything you want from that shelf," she said, walking towards him.

"Right." He was reading through the titles when he was surprised by her hand touching his.

"Actually, you don't need to choose anything. Just kiss me."

Harry didn't feel like he needed a second invitation, and he started kissing her straightaway. At the first moment, their kiss started a bit clumsily, filled with clashing teeth and awkwardness of unsure tongues that had never kissed before. However, they quickly figured out how to do it properly, and as their snog session progressed, they began learning their ways around each other's bodies. Harry had one hand caressing her hair and the other rested at Annabel's waist. He thought that her skin was the softest thing he had ever touched, while her hair smelled like oranges that had just been picked.

Annabel fastened the pace bringing him even more closely to her body, even daring to stroke his chest under his t-shirt. Harry responded eagerly and saw this as an invitation to also explore some parts of her body. Harry wasn't able to tell how long they had been kissing before Bel decided to grab his hair with such a possessive grip that hurt, but in a nice way. She then guided him to the sofa and made him lie down and placed herself on top of him. But it was only when Harry realised that his hands were trying to open her bra from under her shirt with wandless magic that he realized that it was probably time to break down from their embrace.

"_Stop!_ Please, Bel. Stop. _Bel, we need to stop__!_" he said firmly pulling her away while she was trying to remove his t-shirt..

"Stop!? Why do you want to stop? Don't tell me you are not enjoying it, because I'm sure you are." she asked mischievously while looking at the increased volume on his crotch.

"You are such a naughty girl, _Merlin_! But if we don't stop now, I don't think I'll be able to control myself," he said, sitting down on the sofa as far away from her as he could and helped himself to some apple juice.

"So what?"

"_So what?_ You were the one that was telling me that we're only fourteen less than one hour ago!" Only then Harry realised that his vision was completely blurry. He wasn't wearing his glasses anymore, and he didn't have a clue of its whereabouts.

"Well, this is what happens when you start saying _silly things_ that involve me having your surname."

"Do you dislike '_Potte_r' that much?"

"No, I think that Potter is kinda _cute_. But this is nothing related to _your_ name." She stopped trying to find the right words. "I just… I don't think I like the idea of marriage at all. You see how my parents ended up... I don't think that I believe on that old-fashioned marital institution anymore. I mean... this thing about promising to love one single person for the whole eternity doesn't attract me. I feel like the idea of a commitment in a single monogamous and boring relationship may not be right for me."

"Right," Harry said while trying to digest this new piece of information about her.

"You look so _sexy_ without your glasses! Your eyes are so beautiful; has anyone ever told you that?" she said, hugging him.

"What people usually tell me is that they were my mother's eyes," Harry said simply. "Talking about that, do you know where my glasses are, by any chance?"

"Yes. I took them off. I kept them very safe here on the floor." She picked them up, but instead of giving them back to him, she decided to try them on. "Wow, you're blind. How do I look?"

"I have no idea. I'm blind, remember? Can you give it back so I can see you too?"

"How about we play a game, and if you win, I give them back to you?"

"How about you give them back to me now, and if I win the game, you will dance for me?"

"And if I win?"

"Well, then you can choose whatever you want."

She inclined to his ear and whispered something that made Harry blush.

"Okay, I can give you that. But it must be the best of three. And I'll choose the game."

"It's a deal." she said smiling while giving his glasses back."


	5. Her crazy little family

Harry was feeling so excited the night after their first kiss that it was extremely hard for him to sleep. All he could think about was how nice the moments that he had shared with the muggle girl had been. When he finally managed to drift off to sleep, he woke up to a shooting pain through his scar that was accompanied by a dream that involved Wormtail, Voldemort and an old man whom Harry had never seen before. Harry couldn't remember many details about the dream, but he knew that they were plotting to kill someone… _him_.

Harry got his wand and prepared himself to fight, expecting to see Voldemort entering through his room at any moment because the only other time he had felt his scar hurting this much was when Voldemort was hidden in Hogwarts.

"Bel!" Harry whispered in despair when he realized that maybe Voldemort could very well be close to her room.

With his wand in his fist, Harry dashed up the stairs in order to reach the third floor, where he knew her room was. When he opened the door, he was glad to see that she was still there, in a nightmare-free deep sleep. Her room window was wide open, letting the summer breeze inside. Harry went to her window and looked down to the street. Everything was completely calm and deserted, and the only living creature he could see was a cat in a tree. No sign of any dark lord anywhere near them. Even though he knew that it wouldn't stop Voldemort from getting inside the muggle's house, he decided to shut her room's window.

He stayed there in silence for a few minutes, guarding her sleep with his wand in his hand, ready to attack if necessary. Even though his thoughts were on the possibility of Voldemort being near them, Harry could not stop noticing the beauty of the girl who was sleeping so next to him. She looked like the perfect mixture of sweetness and sexiness. He had a perfect line of sight of her white cotton knickers as her nightie had come up to her belly button while she was sleeping. At the same time, however, she was hugging a blue teddy bear – and Harry felt a massive desire to be the toy she was hugging.

"Harry? What are you doing here?" she said, not louder than a whisper, yawning.

"I…" What could he say? "I needed to come and check if you were okay."

"And why wouldn't I be?" She asked, sitting up while she stretched her arms and legs. Only then she seemed to notice that her nightie had risen up while she was sleeping. "you were here to spy my bum, huh?"

"No! I swear I…" If the light had been on, she would have been able to see that Harry's face had turned the colour of a tomato. "I… had a nightmare, and I needed to make sure you were okay."

"Oh, Harry! That's so sweet!" She went up to her knees and hugged him while she was still on her bed. "What was this nightmare about?"

"I would prefer not to talk about it if you don't mind."

"That's fine. I'm here with you now, and nothing bad is going to happen to us."

She gave him a soft kiss that he answered without closing his eyes, trying to keep his wand ready with one hand and touching her hair with the other.

"But did you enjoy the view of my bum?" she whispered inside his ear. Harry felt his whole body shaking as her voice enunciated the words.

"Yes…" Harry answered, finally surrendering to her touch. Her summer nightie fabric was very light and their bodies were almost touching each other. His free hand started to slide down her body, exploring her small curves. Annabel guided this same hand to her bum and placed it inside her knickers. At this stage, Harry had completely forgotten about the reason he had invaded the girl's room.

It was only when she tried to guide his other hand, the one that was still holding his wand, that she broke the kiss.

"What is this thing you're holding?"

Only then did Harry remember that he was still holding his wand. It also made him remember the real reason he was there in the first place.

"This? This is my wan-wood working project," Harry said, trying to avoid her eyes.

"Right…"

She didn't ask anything else about it, but Harry could see that she didn't buy it. She didn't ask him any further questions though. Instead, she let him go, stood up, put her dressing gown on, and walked to a spot near her door. Her gesture made Harry feel really bad for having lied to her about something so small.

"Bel…"

"Harry, that's fine. I think we both should go to bed now. We'll need to attend a wedding in few hours, and I'm going to be a bridesmaid. I don't want to look tired in the pictures."

"I'm sorry."

He didn't know what else he could say. He wished that he could show her who he really was at least once.

"I said it's okay. Come here." She gave a little peck on his lips. "One last goodnight kiss, so you can have sweet dreams about me this time."

* * *

He went back to his room, but he still couldn't get to sleep. Instead, after realizing that he needed some advice about the pain in his scar, he ended up deciding that writing a letter to Sirius and asking his opinion about it would be his best option.

_"_ _ **Dear Sirius,** _

_ **Thank you for your last letter, that bird was enormous; it could hardly get through my window.** _

_I've spent the last couple of days here in London at my girlfriend's house. Her mother is getting married this afternoon, and we spent most of last week doing some work for her wedding. I'm really having a great time here; however, I do feel a bit bad about hiding things about me from her though – she is a muggle, you see._

_But I'm really glad to be away from the Dursleys, and especially to be free from Dudley's diet plan. This afternoon we've been making some cupcakes that would certainly make my cousin feel very jealous._

_ **A weird thing happened this morning though. My scar hurt again. Last time that happened it was because Voldemort was at Hogwarts. But I don't reckon he can be anywhere near me now, can he? Do you know if cursed scars sometimes hurt afterwards?** _

_ **Harry** _

Once he had sent the letter, he started to get dressed in his newly bought muggle suit. Harry was having such a good time with Annabel that he almost felt sad that the Weasleys would be coming to pick him up the next day to take him to the Quidditch World Cup.

The events of last night made him feel like he might be putting her in danger just by being in her house. Even though it could also mean that staying with the Weasleys could put them at risk as well, at least they were wizards, lived in a house with magical wards, and stood a much better chance of defending themselves than Annabel and her family.

Completely dressed, Harry was making his way to the kitchen when he bumped into Annabel. The girl was wearing the same dressing gown he had seen her wearing earlier, but this time her hair was wet.

"Oi Harry. Did you have any nice dreams?"

"No dream could have been better than the moments we shared last night. How about yourself? Did you manage to get some rest?"

"Yes, a little bit. You're looking very nice. I knew that a brightly coloured tie would add some personality. Nice choice on the red."

"Thanks. Well done to you for choosing all the rest! I love your wet hair by the way."

She stroked his cheeks and said, "A woman named Naomi is waiting for you downstairs. She is Lauren's friend and is going to be replacing her today – Lauren is not feeling well, you see. It's really a shame because we're relying on her to help with so many things… anyway, you and Naomi are going to have to go earlier and organize some things. I gave her a list of tasks; it's all very simple," Annabel said, looking a little bit stressed.

"Why don't you come with us? Wouldn't it be much simpler?"

"I'm a bridesmaid, remember? I'll enter the church with my mother, Jess, and Jenny. They must be arriving here very soon. Please, call me if you guys have any doubt."

"Okay, I'm sure we'll manage it. But before I go… do I get to have a little kiss?"

"Hum, I'm sure I can arrange that."

Their lips were about to touch when they were interrupted by a loud cough.

"Good morning, Bel; good morning, Harry."

Bel's mother walked down towards them. Like Bel, she was also wearing a dressing gown. Harry, who had had very little contact with the woman so far, felt extremely embarrassed by being caught almost kissing her daughter in her house.

"Good morning, ma'am," Harry said shyly.

Annabel didn't say anything.

"You don't need to be embarrassed. I know you two are having are having a thing. I have eyes everywhere. Not that it would be necessary, after all of those letters you two little love birds have exchanged. What a pitiful police investigator I would be if I had not noticed. Dorothy told me that you are a good boy, so I am going to give you a vote of confidence. But I only want to let you know that _I'm aware that you sneaked into Annabel's room last night to do God knows what_. I know that you two are adolescents and that you have those foolish, silly hormones screaming inside of you. But as I do not have the desire to become a grandmother before the age of fifty, both of you please do me a favour and wear condoms."

"MUM!" Annabel was extremely red. Harry knew he was very likely to be even more blushed than she was.

"Did I say anything wrong? If I did, please correct me. Now let me fix this tie." And she started to make Harry's tie knot once again, looking like she had just made a comment about the weather.

Harry couldn't bear to look the woman in the eyes while she re-tied his tie, so he looked to his shoes instead. All he could think about was how he had just been told by Annabel's mother to wear a condom.

"Much better now! It's a very nice choice of suit, Bel. Maybe good taste in clothing is genetic."

"Lauren helped me. And Harry had his say in it too," Annabel cut her dryly.

Harry thought this wasn't entirely true. The only thing he had chosen was his tie and that was after Annabel had offered him some pre-selected ones.

"I still think that you need something else… hold on a second!" the woman exclaimed while climbing up the stairs very quickly, leaving the two teenagers alone once again.

"I'm so sorry about that!" Annabel whispered to him.

"I feel like we deserved it," Harry whispered back.

They stayed in an awkward silence for a few moments until her mother returned with a small box.

"A tie clip and a pocket square. They belonged to my brother."

"Sorry, I can't…"

"Yes, you can. Don't even start… you don't want to see me angry," Annabel's mother said while adding the two things to his suit.

Harry, who now knew the tragic story of how she had lost her family, couldn't help but feel very touched by her gesture.

"This is… thank you very much."

"Don't mention it. Just make good use of it. Things like this shouldn't be in cupboards gathering dust. Now you'd better go. We still need to get ready – I can't believe that I'm getting married today, after all!"

* * *

Harry had just helped Naomi load the car with cupcakes boxes and the many other things that they were supposed to bring and put on display at the wedding venue. Naomi's black and white hair tied extravagantly, in conjunction with her dark dress, made her look like a rock star in Harry's opinion.

"You can do it, you can do it, you can do it…" Naomi said, looking a bit worried while looking at the car panels.

"Are you sure you know how to drive?" Harry asked her, raising his eyebrow.

"Of course I know how to drive!" she said, a little bit offended. "The thing is that this car is a bit different from the one I usually drive. Wow, look that man!" she said, making Harry turn his head look at a man running down the street with two big dogs.

"What about him?"

"He was cute, wasn't he? At least the car is working now!" she celebrated. "So, what's the first thing we need to do again?"

Harry unfolded the list in his hands before telling her.

"We need to go to the reception place and give the cupcakes to a man named… watch out that cyclist!"

Her driving style was the craziest that Harry had ever seen. She didn't seem to understand the road signs, and they ended up somehow driving in the wrong traffic lane.

"Are you sure you know how to drive!?" Harry asked, worried that they would either end up killing someone or being arrested by a policeman.

"No… I'm not sure!" she answered, feeling a bit worried herself. "Oh, I think that is the place we need to go." She pointed to a posh hotel by the canal.

"Thank God!" Harry sighed in relief.

When she parked, she managed to crash into the car in front and into the car behind them. Luckily, it didn't leave any marks on either car.

"Well, it wasn't that bad for a first-time drive, right?"

"You told me that you had driven before!"

"Sorry, I lied. I needed the job. A girl needs to pay her bills, right? Now let's make our delivery. What was that man's name again?"

* * *

Harry helped Naomi do little jobs like setting up the box for the wedding cards, putting up the tables, and organizing some small activities that Annabel had planned for the guests. By the time they arrived at the church, Geoffrey and his dad were already there, both wearing purple ties, as were a few guests that Harry had never met before.

Naomi and Harry decided to pick a seat at the back of the church.

"It feels so weird to be at a wedding where you don't know a single soul," Naomi whispered to Harry.

"I'm feeling exactly the same way."

"At least you are friends with the daughter of the bride. Poor Laura, I hope she is not too sad about missing this."

"I thought her name was Lauren… Where did said you know her from again?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"We went to school together," Naomi said automatically.

"In France?" Harry

"Yes, I am half-French. Look at those hats; they are so funny. That woman looks like she has a bird's nest on her head!" Naomi pointed with her head.

"You are not dressed very discreetly yourself…" Harry teased

"Well, at least I've got some style. That is just tacky!"

They stayed there talking for a while. Naomi was a very easy-going and nice person to talk with. He was very glad that he had her to keep him company; otherwise, he was sure that he most certainly would have felt extremely dislocated.

By the time they announced the bride, Harry was feeling very anxious. He was really looking forward to seeing his girlfriend in her bridesmaid's dress. The first person to walk down the aisle was a girl named Jess whom Harry knew from Little Whinging, followed by a woman whom Harry recognized as being the girl's mother accompanied by a boy named Dennis, who Harry knew to be one of the bullying friends of Dudley.

Then came Annabel, who was wearing a very simple white dress, and like the other bridesmaids, she carried a small white rose bouquet. Her hair had been put up in a very nice braided style. He had never seen her hair like this before. He just couldn't take his eyes off of her. All he knew was that Naomi had to hit him with her elbow so Harry wouldn't miss the bride's entrance.

* * *

When the ceremony was finally over, Harry and Naomi congratulated the newly married couple and went to get on an old double-decker bus that was going to take them to the hotel. Harry was very glad that he had convinced Naomi to get a cab to the church and leave the car parked at the hotel. Annabel was very busy taking pictures and talking to some guests, and Harry decided that it would be best to approach the girl later.

The journey to the hotel had been much more pleasant and calm than the one he had experienced earlier on. When they arrived at the hotel, Harry was very glad to see that some canapés were being served before the dinner.

"Harry, my boy, it's nice to see you here!"

An old woman whom Harry recognized to be Annabel's grandmother came in his direction bringing a man that he had never met before. The dark-haired man with big brown eyes had an extremely pretty face with a square chin and goat-style beard.

"It's nice to see you too, Mrs Morelli. Thank you so much for convincing the Dursleys to let me come here today. It has been a very nice week."

"You're very welcome. Who is this young lady friend of yours?"

"I'm Naomi. I'm just covering for Lauren, who was feeling a bit ill today," Naomi decided to take the lead and introduce herself.

"Oh, poor thing! I really like that girl. Hope she is better soon. I'm Dorothy, Annabel's grandmother, and this is Lucca, my son and her father."

Harry had never met the man before, though he had heard quite a lot about him through Annabel's letters, so much so that he felt like he already knew the man in front of him. He knew the man had grown up in Sicily and was quite proud of his Italian heritage, even though he was technically half-English as well. Harry also knew that he lived in the United States and had quite the fame of being a _'Don Juan'_.

"Lucca, this is Harry. Harry is Annabel's little boyfriend," Mrs Morelli said casually.

"Boyfriend? Why does she need a boyfriend for? She's only a _child_!" Lucca gave Harry an accusing glare.

"BABBO!" Luckily for Harry, Annabel came running at that exact time and gave her father a very tight hug. "I missed you so much!"

"Bel, _mia bambina_, I missed you too!" he said, returning the hug and kissing her forehead. "Your grandmother is talking nonsense. She told me that this _ragazzo_ is your boyfriend," he said, pointing his finger at Harry. "Please tell to your _babbo_ that she is getting old and does not understand things very well anymore."

"You're actually right, _Babbo._ Harry is not my boyfriend." Her father sighed in relief while Harry raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "He is more like a friend with benefits."

"_WHAT_?!" Lucca and Harry exclaimed at the same time for two very different reasons.

"I'LL CUT YOUR BALLS, CHE PALLE!" Harry felt his hands unconsciously reach for his wand when he saw the strongman going into his direction, but Annabel and Naomi put themselves in front of Harry in order to avoid the boy from receiving a punch in the face.

"Look, don't get mad at him because it was completely _my idea_. I think that if it was up to him, we probably would be marrying today. But the last thing I want in my life is to have to be in a squared relationship. I'd much rather enjoy the pleasures of an _open relationship_." Harry didn't like any of the things he heard her say; however, it was clear that her father disliked it even more than he did.

"Have you lost your mind? Do you want people to think that you are a _slut_? Who is the one who put those ideas in your head?" he asked angrily.

Annabel was about to answer him when she was interrupted by her mother.

"_Annabel Dorothy Morelli_, I can't believe that you invited _this man_ to my wedding!" Helen exclaimed, pointing to Annabel's father, ignoring the fact that he was in front of her and could hear everything she was saying.

"This _man_ has a name," Lucca answered her dryly.

"You shut your mouth because our talk hasn't reached you yet," the new Mrs Harrison answered sharply.

"You want me to shut my mouth? Che cazzo è? How can I do that if you ignore the fact that we had a daughter together?" he answered equally sharply.

"Both of you control yourselves! Can you two at least _pretend to be civilized for one day_? Today is a day for celebration, not for arguments!" Dorothy Morelli whispered to her son and to her ex-daughter-in-law, trying to bring them to reason.

"You are right. The last thing I want is to ruin my day with silly arguments. So Annabel, my love, why did you invite your father, Lucca, to my wedding?" Helen tried to ask politely.

"Maybe if you had bothered to read the copy of the guest list I sent to your e-mail, you could have had a say in who is here and who isn't," Annabel answered dryly.

"IT'S YOU, ISN'T IT? It's you who is putting these ideas in our daughter's head, isn't it? She just told me that she and this boy are friends with benefits!"

"Really? Did she tell you that?" Helen asked curiously. "I personally believed that what these two had was much more serious than a casual thing, but if that's what they've decided, I'm completely fine with that. As long as they use contraception…"

"ARE YOU INSANE? SHE IS ONLY FOURTEEN! SHE SHOULD BE PLAYING WITH DOLLS, NOT USING CONTRACEPTION!" he shouted at the bride.

Everyone in the salon was looking at them. Annabel looked like she wanted to bury her face in the ground. Harry, though, wasn't feeling any embarrassment at all. He was too busy feeling angry with Bel to give room to any other feeling in his heart.

For a long moment, everything was in total silence. The only noise was from the birds singing in the trees.

"GET OUT!" Helen suddenly took her wedding bouquet and started to slap her ex with it. "GET OUT! GET-OUT-OF-MY-WEDDING NOW!"

Harry's jaw dropped in shock while he watched the whole scene. Naomi looked equally stunned. Dorothy just started shaking her head and tutting in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment. Annabel looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING?" Annabel shouted to her parents – more to her mother than to her father – and went running away.

"Bel, come back…" Helen started to take off after the angry girl.

"Leave it." Dorothy tapped Helen's shoulders to stop her from following her daughter. "You too." Dorothy gave a sharp glare to her son.

"And you, boy; what are you waiting for?" Harry felt surprised to see his old neighbour talking to him.

"Do you mean me?" Harry asked unsurely.

"Of course I mean you. Who else do you think she going to listen to?"

* * *

It didn't take long for Harry to find Annabel. She had left the hotel and was sitting by the Regent Canal; she had taken off her shoes and had both her feet in the water. The tears were coming down her face and her breathing was punctuated by sobs. Harry felt very lost. He had never calmed down someone like this before.

"Um… hi."

She looked at him, but she didn't say anything.

"Would you mind if I sat down here?"

She shook her head. She was still crying and sobbing a lot.

Harry took off his shoes and socks, folded his trousers up to his knees and sat down with his feet in the water, the same way she had done.

"So… do you want to talk about it?" he asked, unsure of what else he could do.

Instead of answering him, Annabel just leaned her head onto his shoulders and started to cry even louder. Harry wasn't sure what he was doing wrong for her to increase the intensity of her cry. He wanted her to feel better, not worse.

No one else was there apart from them, a little boy and girl who were playing with a kite, and the ducks swimming down the lake. Harry decided to stroke her hair, which was still up and braided.

"Even when you're crying, you're pretty. How can you do that!?" Harry said without thinking, and Bel gave him a weak smile.

"Why… why… why do th-they al-ways h-have to be arguing?" she asked in the middle of her sobs. "The-they were al-ways like th-at. All my me-memories of them to-together are about them fighting."

Harry didn't know what to say. His only memory of his parents was when they were being murdered by Voldemort, and that wasn't exactly the merriest of thoughts. However, even though her family problems weren't nearly as big as the ones he had, now he finally understood that being her wasn't as simple as he used to imagine.

"You must be thinking that I'm very silly," she told him after taking a long breath. "I'm here complaining about my parents, and you never even had the chance to meet yours!" Bel said as if she could read his thoughts.

"I don't think you are being silly." He took his pocket square from his pockets and offered for her to dry her tears. "It was like your mother was expecting this to happen…"

This clearly wasn't the right thing for him to say because she started to cry again immediately after he said it.

"W-why is she-she al-ways so mean to him?"

"He wasn't being a perfect gentleman, was he? He is the one who started to scream."

"But she started the fight!" Annabel answered angrily. "Why did I invite him to her wedding? Well, he is my father! That on its own should be reason enough!"

"I see your point. But I don't think that it's a good thing to be taking sides when they have a row like this. I mean, when my friends Ron and Hermione have their arguments I always try to stay as neutral as possible. Arguing with them is only going to stress you out more. Maybe you should try doing the same?"

"You say it as if it's easy to ignore. You saw how they are. Another thing that is making me super angry is that they just managed to destroy the party that I've planned with so much care! Now everything is ruined!"

"I'm sure the party is still going on! And we are here missing everything. Would you like to go back with me?"

"And see all those people? After my father shouted in front of everyone how I should be playing with dolls instead of thinking about contraception? Thank you, but no thank you!"

Harry knew too well how it was to face a crowd who were hating, fearing, or simply gossiping about his life, and he couldn't really blame her for wanting to avoid going back to the party. The only thing that made it bearable for Harry was having Ron and Hermione by his side during all those hard times.

"I'll be there with you, holding your hand and showing them all that we don't give a shit about what they say."

"Aw, Harry, you couldn't be more perfect, could you?" she said, hugging him tightly and giving him a soft kiss on his lips.

They took their feet out the water and waited for them to dry a little bit, which didn't take long. Once both of them had their shoes on and were up, Harry offered his arm to Annabel to hold.

"Shall we go, _my dahling_?" Harry asked in a faked posh accent.

"Sure, _my dahling_."

* * *

When they finally got back to the hotel, they found out that the wedding dinner had already started to be served. Because of this, it wasn't very surprising when the whispers of gossip started to occur as soon as they entered the banquet room.

Harry noticed that even after the scene earlier, Annabel's father was still present in the room, seated next to the girl's grandmother. Her mother gave him a smile when they walked near her. The table that they were supposed to be sitting at had three chairs vacant, and all the others were filled by people around their age. Harry was surprised when he realised that he knew everyone who was sitting there except one guy that was seated on Annabel's left – Harry was sitting on her right. The chair on Harry's other side was empty, but the name in front of it indicated that it should be occupied by Naomi.

"Harry, I want you to meet Matt; he is Geoffrey's cousin and also a very good friend of mine. We go to school together; we are usually dance partners in our classes!"

"Harry, the owl guy! I can't believe that I'm finally meeting you!" he said, offering his hand for Harry to shake. "You are quite famous at our school; did you know that? Almost a celebrity."

After hearing this, Harry unconsciously placed his hand on his forehead in order to try to cover his scar.

"Why would I be famous at a ballet school? If there is one thing I'm sure I can't do, it is dance."

"I'm sure you can! Bells is a great teacher; I'm sure she would love to give you some private lessons one day." He winked at Annabel, who laughed at his comment. "Anyway, you sent Bells that red rose in the beak of that beautiful white owl on Valentine's Day, which arrived just when the whole school was having lunch, and you're still asking me why you're famous?"

"Excuse my absence folks," Naomi said, sitting down at her place. Only then did Harry notice that she was the only adult sitting at their table. "I had an emergency issue in the loo that I had to attend to. So, what did I miss?"

"Starters," Geoffrey told her with a grin, "but don't worry. It wasn't that great. And I believe you're here for the best part anyway: _'The gossip about Annabel, our new porn star!'"_

Harry stood up immediately and gave Geoffrey a deadly look.

"Take it back," Harry said, trying to contain his rage.

Naomi stood up so abruptly from her seat that her chair fell to the ground. Ignoring the fact that every head in the hall turned to look at her, she stood in front of Harry.

"_Harry, you need to calm down_!"

"**Take-it-back**!" Harry said, even more furiously.

"Look at me!" Naomi demanded and placed both of her hands on Harry's shoulders to force the boy to look her in the eyes. "He is not worth it. _Just chill out_!"

Slowly Harry let his body to fall on his chair once again. He drank a whole glass of water as an attempt to help him to cool down his nerves, which were screaming for him to curse the muggle boy to death.

"Good boy, Harry. Well done," Naomi said, giving him some comforting taps on his shoulder.

* * *

The rest of the dinner went down much more smoothly. However, there was one little thing that was making Harry feel extremely uncomfortable, and surprisingly it wasn't Annabel's new step-brother. The way that Matt and Annabel were behaving was really getting on his nerves. The boy would whisper things in her ear that would make her giggle; he also touched her hands and arms with a lot of intimacy. The boy had even _hugged her and kissed her cheeks_!

After the whole drama involving her parents, Harry had completely forgotten that Annabel had told her father that he was nothing more than a 'friend with benefits' for her. What was she playing at? Didn't she like him enough to be his girlfriend? Or did she have other 'boyfriends' and want to keep them all? Would this 'Matt' be one of these supposed boyfriends?

"You really like her, don't you?" Naomi asked him in a whisper.

"More than I would dare to admit," Harry sighed resignedly.

"You are jealous of him, aren't you?" Naomi asked, indicating to Matt with her eyes. "Don't worry. He is not a match for you."

After everyone had filled their bellies with the dinner and after all the speeches and toasts had been concluded, the time that Harry was dreading the most finally arrived.

"Hey Harry, do you wanna dance?" Bel asked, already grabbing his hands without waiting for an answer.

"Huh… sure."

When they arrived on the dance floor, he placed his hands on her waist in a clumsy way.

"Oh, you really never have danced before, have you?"

Harry shook his head, feeling very embarrassed.

"You should have told me earlier! We could have practised! But don't worry; it's very easy. I'll teach you some basic steps," she said, placing one of his hands on her waist and holding the other one.

"Now, hold my hands and look at my feet. I want you to mirror my steps: 1, 2, 3 – 1, 2, 3 – 1, 2, 3 – 1, 2, 3…"

Harry did it without any trouble.

"Well done, Harry! Now I'm going to demonstrate how to swap for different footwork. Pay attention to my feet."

Matthew hadn't lied when he told him that Annabel was a very good teacher. In a half an hour, she had managed to demonstrate how to do a very good number of steps. But he hadn't passed the final test yet.

"Now, let's see if you can lead me!" she said with a grin. "Don't forget to follow the rhythm of the song."

Harry decided to start with the first set of footwork she had shown him. After that, he got her hands and placed one by his neck while he held the other one.

"Very good, Harry! Now, can you remember how to swap places with me?"

Instead of answering her, he performed the movement, and it made her lips open wide with a big smile.

"You are a natural! Now, do something that I am not expecting."

Harry performed a half turn and gave her a soft kiss on her lips before completing the movement.

"I wasn't expecting that." She gave him a silly grin, and Harry turned her back to the basic position.

However, just after that song finished, Matt approached them and gave them an imploring look.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you little love birds, but would you mind if I have a go with my favourite dance partner?" Matt asked Harry.

"Oh, Harry, please, would you mind?" Annabel also gave Harry a begging look.

"Sure…" he answered with what he thought to be a reassuring smile.

While waiting, he grabbed an orange juice and sat at an empty table to watch Bel dancing with the boy. Harry didn't know anything at all about dancing, but he could see why that bloke had been accepted to what Annabel claimed to be one of the top ballet schools in the world. A small crowd quickly appeared to watch the couple's performance.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, and they danced with passion. When the song was finished, she didn't come back. They danced another song, and another song, and another song. No matter the rhythm, that was playing, they were perfect together. Harry felt his heart sink as he couldn't see how he was going ever be able to compete with someone that was so damn good doing the thing that she loved the most.

"Enjoying your sour grapes?" Geoffrey said sarcastically, sitting by his side.

"Bugger off!"

"Let me give you one word of advice: she is not the girl for you. Sooner or later, she'll break your heart."

"I don't think that I asked for your opinion."

"She is not a woman for only one man. She is a slut."

"Watch your mouth, boy! That is not how you should talk about a girl who is now your sister!" Naomi chose that exact second to appear as if she could sniff potential trouble.

"_She is not my sister_! She is just the daughter of the woman who happens to occasionally hook up with my father."

"You are in such a big trouble, young man! Wait and see. You are going to be grounded until your parents return from their honeymoon!" Naomi told him off furiously.

"Who do you think you are to tell me off like that? Wait until my father hear about this… servants should know their place."

Naomi gave Geoffrey a mortal glare.

"My place is to ensure to make your life a hell tomorrow. Now get out of my sight!" She looked like she would kill him if he dared not to move.

"Is he always a jerk like that?" Naomi asked Harry, sitting next to him.

"Only when he's breathing," Harry answered sympathetically.

"I've never been to such a dramatic wedding in my whole life. What a complicated family your girlfriend has!"

"She is not my girlfriend, remember? You heard what she said earlier." Harry sighed defeatedly while watching the couple who were dancing what seemed to be one of those Latin American rhythms she had told him about where they performed extremely sexy movements.

This sight made him feel even more grumpy and annoyed with the girl. He couldn't wait to be picked up by the Weasleys the next day after all; just the thought of sleeping one more night beneath the same roof as she did was unbearable enough.

Harry sighed. He felt like his first official date with Annabel had been a complete fiasco.


	6. Drama Queen

At just past eleven o'clock in the evening, Naomi got Harry, Annabel and Geoffrey in the car and drove them back the girl's home. Harry was very surprised to see that this time, Naomi's driving skills were incredibly perfect. He was about to ask the woman what she had done to improve them so much, but Bel chose that exact second to make a comment.

"Thank you so much for convincing me to go back to the party, Harry! I had so much fun!" she said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Harry didn't answer her. He was still very disappointed with the muggle girl and her attitude towards him. Even though she had invited him to be her date to the wedding, the girl had spent half the evening ignoring him while she danced with another boy. The fact that she had done this immediately after publicly saying that, for her, he was nothing more than a friend with benefits just made him feel that much worse about the situation. He knew that he would need to talk about everything with her before he left for the Weasleys' the next morning, but this was neither the time nor the place for that sort of talk.

When they finally got home, Naomi showed everyone that her threats to give Geoffrey a hard time weren't empty. As soon as they got back, she made sure to lock him in his room to let him think about the things he had said earlier.

"You two should probably go to bed as well," she said, looking at Harry and Annabel. "It has been a busy day; I think we all agree on that. I probably should go and check on Lauren. She's been alone all day…"

Harry showered, turned his room's light off, and was about to tuck himself under his duvet when someone else invaded his room.

"As you snuck into my room yesterday, I felt that it would be only fair for me to return the favour, right?" Annabel asked with a cheeky smile on her lips while trying to hug Harry, but he walked away from her.

"Harry, what's up?"

"You tell me what's up Bel. What you told your father… me being your 'friend with benefits'… would you care to explain to me what exactly you meant by that?"

"Oh, that? Well, the way I see it is that we're friends who like to snog each other sometimes."

"And you don't consider yourself to be my girlfriend?"

"A girlfriend implies commitment, right? I told you before... I don't like the idea of having a typical relationship!"

"It was hard for me to get it when you said it, but now I think that the penny finally has dropped." Harry groaned and sat on his bed. "So you basically want to be in an '_open relationship_' so you can go and snog other boys. Is that right?" Harry asked with anger.

"That's one of the reasons I like it, yes. But it does work in both ways! It leaves you free to go and snog every single girl in that school in Scotland of yours. I've always thought that having a relationship like this would be any boy's dream…"

"So, is that guy Matt your friend with benefits too?" Harry asked angrily.

"Me and Matthew Harrison together? Really?" Annabel laughed at the thought of this idea. "You would see me marry Geoffrey before you'd see that happening! Seriously, there is absolutely nothing between us. He is like my little brother, my dancing soul mate, my personal sentimental advisor, but he is not someone with whom I would ever have something like what we're having." She sat down on his bed and held his hand. "That reminds me; you should really thank him because if he hadn't told me to do so, I would never have told you how I feel about you."

"And how _exactly_ do you feel about me?" Harry looked into her big doll eyes and asked in a very serious tone.

She looked back at him, completely lost in the deep vastness of the green oceans that he called his eyes.

"I feel like… I wish that summers would never end so we could be always together because when I am around you, I know that everything is going to be okay because your presence brings me peace. And it's such a strong feeling that I am scared of it… so scared that it makes me almost wish that I didn't feel the way I do about you… because it's bigger than me, and I feel like I'm not in control of myself anymore, and I don't like to feel something that I can't control. It's like a drug that gives pain and relief at the same time. And it almost feels like…" She closed her eyes and a single tear dropped down from her eyes.

He knew that she had spoken with all her heart.

Harry pulled her to him gently and into a soft, slow kiss. It felt like their souls had connected, that their whole lives had led to them sharing this very moment. It felt right: he belonged to her, and she belonged to him. At that moment, he knew that taking her out of his life would be as hard as cutting a piece of his own body away because she was a part of him.

"If you like me as much as you're saying…" Harry started to say while their foreheads were touching one another, "why can't you just be my girlfriend?"

Annabel closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest. She let another insistent tear fall from her eye.

"I'm sorry, but I can't give you that. Please, don't insist on it because saying 'no' to you will break my heart."

Harry stopped for a moment, thinking about what she had said. It still didn't make any sense.

"Okay. I promise I won't ask you this again. But can you at least try to explain to me why you are so against the idea of being my girlfriend?"

"I'm not ready.. I feel like you're the right guy who appeared at the wrong time. We are way too young to have such a commitment. Secondly, you spend most of the year stuck in Scotland, and even if you weren't, my career is always going to be my top priority."

"I'm sure we could work around those two things…" Harry tried to insist once more.

"No Harry, we couldn't. It would end up destroying this entire magical thing we have," she said decisively. "Next year is going to be my last year at my current school, and I plan to apply to carry on my education at some foreign dance companies after that. I just can't see how we would manage to maintain a serious relationship like this. Besides… you're the only boy I have been with so far, and I would like to experience some of the other 'fish in the sea,' if you will, and I think you should do the same."

"I don't like this idea. Just the thought of another guy doing to you the same things I am doing makes me..." Harry closed his fists in anger.

"Just don't think about it, okay? Enjoy the moment we are having now because you're going to go to your friend's house tomorrow… and then we'll have to wait for an entire year to be together again." After she said this, she pressed her lips against his.

"Is there anything I could do to persuade you to change your mind about this?" Harry whispered in her ear.

"Maybe another time, but now I can't give you what you want; it doesn't mean that I want you any less."

They exchanged a couple of mushy kisses before Annabel decided that was time to go back to her own room, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.

* * *

It wasn't long after breakfast when Arthur and his two oldest sons, Bill and Charlie, arrived to pick Harry up and take him to the Burrow. Annabel volunteered to help Harry to take his case downstairs so that they could stay together for a few moments more.

"I'll be counting the seconds to next July," she said just after their last kiss.

Harry and the Weasleys went by car to Diagon Ally where Harry was able to Floo to the Burrow.

"Harry!" A bushy-haired girl hugged him as soon as he landed in the Weasleys' living room.

"Gosh Hermione, let him breathe!" Ron said, giving a tap on the shoulder of his best mate. "How did the wedding go, Harry?"

"It was all right. A little bit of drama involving Annabel's parents, but they sorted it out in the end…"

"So… are you guys officially together now?" Ron asked him curiously.

"No. She didn't want that."

"What do you mean by _she_ didn't want that, Harry?" Hermione asked, intrigued.

"Let's put my school trunk upstairs," Harry suggested, and both of his friends understood that he wanted some privacy.

* * *

Four months had passed since the morning that Annabel had said goodbye to Harry the day after her mother's wedding. Now, something was taking her sleep, and it wasn't the fact that her teachers were going to be announcing the name of the students who were going to do an internship at the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg. The one responsible for her sleepless nights had been none other than the messy dark-haired boy with sparkling green eyes.

Since she had answered her last letter to him at the beginning of October, two months had passed, and he hadn't sent another letter to her – not even a short message to wish her a happy birthday! During his previous years, the boy would always write no later than two weeks after receiving her letters. Now, they were heading into the middle of December, and it felt like the boy had completely forgotten about her existence.

She looked to the lake through the window from the common room; it was a moonless night, and she could see a lonely deer and stag couple drinking the lake's water together. These wild animals were regular residents of the Richmond Park where her school was located. She observed the caress exchanged by the animals, and the hole in her heart caused by the absence of _him_ seemed to increase even more.

"You're up after curfew, Bells… you naughty girl!" She jumped and turned, seeing one of her best friends approaching her.

"Matt! You scared the shit out me! What are you doing up after curfew?"

"I went to see my _petitchou_! How about you? Did you decide to stop acting like the widow of a living husband?" Matt asked sarcastically.

"Ha-ha, very funny," she said with a glare that showed that she believed his question had been anything but funny.

"Well, am I wrong? Last Saturday when we went out to that Cuban place, you brushed off that Bolivian guy, and he was extremely hot… and a very good dancer, if I remember correctly. If I had been you, I would have totally done him."

"But you are not me. And he was so boring! He wouldn't stop saying things like, _'Oh, you are so pretty,' 'Oh, your eyes are so beautiful,' 'Oh, your smile is amazing_._'_ I mean, how less original can you be?"

"What the hell did you want him to talk about? Quantum physics? And it's not like you're wanting anything more than a good time out of the guy. What's the point in having an open relationship with the owl guy if you don't even enjoy it?"

"Oh, don't you start…"

"Why did you want an open relationship anyway? Now you've just scared the poor boy away by your fear of commitment. Why would you do that if all you're going to do is cry in the corner because he hasn't written to you yet?"

"I'm not crying."

"You're just here thinking about him all of the time."

"Matthew…" She gave him a warning glare.

"Okay, okay. But can you just promise me one thing? If we get to go to Russia together, we are going to whore around St. Petersburg together. Deal?"

"Matthew…"

"Deal?"

"Okay, fine! Deal! I doubt I will get to go there anyway. But I'm sure you're going to be selected."

"I think you might be surprised. I think you have improved considerably over the last few weeks. Anyway, Bells, it's getting really late. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, and we should really go to bed."

* * *

As Annabel had anticipated, Matthew Harrison had been one of the students picked for the internship. However, it was with astonished happiness that she found out that she was also going to be one of the lucky students who had been picked to spend the next five months at the Vaganova Academy. She was very excited about getting to be known at another world-famous ballet school.

Now it was a week before Christmas, and she was resigned to stay at home for the next three weeks before she, Matt, and the other lucky few students would embark to St. Petersburg where they were due to arrive just after the Russian New Year celebration.

It was ten past eleven in the evening, and she was alone on her room doing some stretching exercises with the help of her ballet bar when a noise from a beak knocking on her window made her heart momentarily stop beating.

It wasn't Hedwig, but another, unfamiliar brown owl, who had brought her a message tied around her leg. It was another brown owl she had never seen before. The unfamiliar owl landed on her desk and looked much more tired from the journey than Hedwig usually looked. Before reading his letter, Annabel quickly opened one of her drawers and gave the bird some treats that she had bought for this purpose.

"_My dear Bel,_

_I'm very sorry for not writing you earlier. But things out of my control has happened here at my school. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the reason I've been so busy, but you must believe that certain things have happened, and now we need to keep a certain distance from each other. _

_Don't think that I'm happy with this, because I'm not; but my godfather said that while we can't be sure it's safe for us to write again, we should avoid doing it. What I can tell you is that I've been extremely busy and that the tournament I mentioned to you in my last letter has started, and now my school is full of foreign students. _

_Yesterday I was told that we are going to have a ball here on Christmas Day. Lots of girls are asking me to be their date at the ball – only because I'm part of the school football team. However, what I really wanted was to invite you to be my date to this ball, but Professor McGonagall told me that it was completely out of the question._

_I was advised by my godfather to avoid sending letters to you as myself. So, from now on I need you to address the letters you send to me to a girl named Hermione Granger. The owl will deliver it to her, and Hermione will deliver it to me. Please, send back your answer to her instead of me. It's just a security measure._

_I'm sorry for missing your birthday. I bought you a present, but I was told that we also should avoid sending each other big packages, as this makes it easier for the owls to be intercepted. I promise to make up for it when we are together again._

_With all my love"_

Harry didn't sign the letter, but she recognized his handwriting – and who else did she know would send letters with an owl, anyway? Still, he didn't send it by Hedwig. She turned the letter to the other side trying to find any other clue about what he had just said, but it was completely blank.

What the hell was he talking about? Security measures? Why did he need any security measures at all? Why would they need to keep any distance from each other? Why couldn't he be straightforward for once in his life and tell her something without playing word games with her?

Annabel bit her lip. Something in this last letter hadn't sounded right, and she was going to find out what it was, even if she had to squeeze the truth out of him.

* * *

_"Harry,_

_What is happening? Why would we need security measures? Why are you leaving me in the dark like this? Are you trying to hide our messages from someone in your school? Can you just be honest about it for once in your life?_

_By the way, if you want to write me next year, I'm going to be doing an internship at the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg. My friend Matt is also coming, which is always a plus! _

_I hope you have a nice date at your school's ball. I'm looking to hearing about it. Remember that I'm not your girlfriend, so there is no need to keep things like that from me._

_I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!_

_Lots of love,_

_Bel"_

Harry sighed after reading the letter that had just been delivered by Hermione. With the letter, the girl had also sent him a couple of pictures of them together at her mother's wedding. The Gryffindor common room was deserted except for the trio.

"Is this her?" Ron asked, pointing to the pictures.

"Yeah."

"Can I see them?" Ron stretched his hand, and Harry passed him the pictures. Hermione closed her book and also examined with curiosity the picture over Ron's shoulder. "Wow mate, not bad at all. It's a shame McGonagall wouldn't let you invite her to the ball. She would be a perfect date!"

Harry nodded his head and looked at the wood burning in the fireplace. He had hoped that Annabel's letter would fill his heart with that warm feeling he usually got every time he read her letters, but this time, it only made him feel worse. Why didn't she understand that it wasn't his fault that he needed to keep things from her? Nor it was his fault that some lunatic had been after his blood since he was a baby. But of course, Annabel didn't know that, and keeping her in the dark was frustrating not only for her but for him as well.

* * *

_"Bel,_

_I'm sorry, but I can't answer your questions. I can only say that I'm doing this because I want to protect you. Also, please avoid writing my name on the letters you send me. _

_I hope you are having a nice time in Russia. We have some students from Bulgaria and France here in our school because of the tournament, and it's been nice interacting with them._

_I've been very busy doing some research in the library for an extracurricular project that is taking all of my free time. I can't wait until this school year is finished!_

_Hope you have a nice week."_

February had already started when Annabel received that letter. She was so angry with him for so many different reasons! Firstly, she hadn't heard from him in ages! The last thing he had sent her was a Christmas present with no card.

Why didn't he at least let her know the reason why he needed to hide things from her? She guessed that he was most likely hiding her existence from another girl – maybe his date to that ball.

This thought made her heart sink even more – and not only from the fact that he might have fallen for another girl but by the thought that he was hiding something like that from her. She decided that she needed to find another approach to making him open up to her.

* * *

Harry was in the library with Ron and Hermione trying to find a way that would allow Harry to breathe underwater in order for him to complete the second task. He was pretty much sure that they already had gone through half of the books in the library, and nothing seemed to have any tips on how to survive under the water.

"Harry! I almost forgot: I received this letter last night when I was in my dormitory. We should really put on a warming spell on the next owl we send to her; she looked like she would do well with one." Hermione handed him a blue envelope.

"Thanks!" Harry said, taking the letter and opening it instantly. It was a welcome excuse to have a break from their stressful research.

He quickly scanned her letter, and the more he read, the more he lowered his eyebrows in anger.

"What hell is she talking about?!" Harry grunted with full range. "Why is she telling me this?" He crumpled part of the letter and threw it into Hermione's lap. "Read it. See if you can understand what her problem is because I completely give up."

Hermione read the letter with Ron reading it from behind her.

"Bloody hell, mate! I think she is dumping you in a very nasty way," Ron said, shocked.

"Maybe," Hermione said thoughtfully, "but I don't believe this to be her intention."

"What are her intentions then? Because they're not very clear to me." Harry looked like he would curse the first one to appear in front of him.

"Well, isn't it obvious? She is talking about those Russian guys she has been going out with because she is trying to make Harry feel jealous."

"Why would she do that?" Harry asked, still very angry.

"Well, you used to write to her all the time during the other years, didn't you? Now you had to reduce the number of letters because of the tournament because of what Sirius said; because of the possible Death Eater here in our school who might want to kill you; and this strange way of you sending things through my name… maybe she is thinking that you are hiding her existence from someone else – a possible girlfriend, for example." Harry looked very offended.

"As I would find time to have a girlfriend right now!" Harry said sarcastically.

"Harry, I know! I'm not telling you that she is right, but I'm trying to make you understand how she might be feeling with all of this. It's only a guess, but maybe she might be thinking you are losing interest in her, so she wants to test you to see if you'll mind. You should ask her what her intentions were because this wasn't a very nice thing for her to do."

"Cheating on Harry… it's really a very beautiful way to say those things, isn't it, Hermione?" Ron decided to give his opinion.

"You are completely forgetting that they are in an open relationship, so she isn't _technically_ cheating on him. Though I know it's probably feeling a lot like it to Harry – I'm sorry, Harry."

"That's okay. Thank you for translating her _girl logic,_ Mione, I really appreciate it. The last thing I needed at this crucial moment was Annabel trying to play with my mental health like this," he said, leaning on the chair and crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Well… just remember that she doesn't actually know what you are going through with this tournament, Sirius …"

"I know, I know! If only I didn't like her so much… Everything would be much simpler."

* * *

When Annabel arrived at her dormitory on Thursday evening, she found an envelope made from the same parchment paper that Harry used. For the first time, however, there was no owl around waiting for her to write an answer.

"_Dear Bel,_

_I can't translate into words how upset I was after reading your last letter. You know how I feel just imagining you with other boys. Why do you need to brag about this to me like that? _

_I know I haven't been answering your letters as quickly as I used to, but believe me when I tell you that I do have my reasons – and they are all very serious. If you can't handle it, maybe we should stop exchanging these letters. I miss you more than anything, but I need to focus all my energy on my problems at the moment. I know it's hard for you to understand what I can't explain, but I really can't handle any more stress at the moment. _

_Enjoy your internship. I hope to see you again during the summer."_

"Shit! What have I done?" Annabel couldn't stop the tears from dropping from falling after reading his answer.


	7. Dementors

It was Harry's second weekend in Little Whinging since the beginning of his summer holidays. The memories of the fateful day of Voldemort's return were still fresh on his mind: Cedric's body lying on the cold ground; Harry's blood being taken by Pettigrew; Voldemort emerging from the cauldron; his father telling him to take the portkey; Crouch, Jr. being a Death Eater in their school. These dark thoughts constantly haunted Harry.

Harry had been receiving the _Daily Prophet _every day, but Voldemort's return was being completely ignored. He had thought that because this was a paper that loved sensational news, his last meeting with the dark wizard would definitely have to be published sooner or later. Meanwhile, Harry had decided that paying attention to the muggle news could be beneficial in keeping track of the Dark Lord's movements throughout the country by watching for riots and other outbreaks.

Maybe it was because the Dursleys couldn't stand the fact that Harry was showing an interest in such a thing as _the news_ while Dudley probably had never read a newspaper article in his entire life, or maybe it was because they just liked to take any opportunity to annoy their nephew; whatever the reason, the fact was that Uncle Vernon had banned him from watching the TV news with them or from reading any muggle newspaper in the house.

This is how Harry found himself with both hands inside a rubbish bin located near the entrance of the local park when he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"What are you doing, Harry?" Annabel asked few meters away from him.

Harry's heart stopped beating. He turned around and faced the muggle girl. Her hair was tied in a ballerina bun, and she was wearing a red jumper with her school logo on it. She was also shouldering a huge bag that looked far too big for her to carry. Harry felt a strong desire to run and hug her, to lift her up in the air and spin her around, but then he remembered that he was supposed to be angry with her. Why was he angry with her again? After all the things that had happened to him, he could barely remember.

Apparently, though, Bel remembered. "Harry! I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have written you that... I wrote you those things that... were not really true but... I was been so silly and insecure... so immature! I shouldn't have done that. Please forgive me! I'll do anything; I'll do all your chores for your aunt; I'll do all your homework. I'll do anything you want me to do; I'll be anything you want me to be! _Please_, _just don't take me out of your life_." She looked at him, begging him with her eyes.

He looked back, a poker face displaying pure lack of emotion while examining her face for a while. Then he smiled. And then she smiled back, rushing to hug him.

"Will you be my girlfriend? My _real girlfriend_?" he asked, raising one eyebrow after holding her in a tight embrace for a moment.

"Oh…maybe I should re-phrase what I said: I'll be anything you want me to be except that '_g_' word; you know how much I hate that word."

Harry immediately took his arms from around her and turned his back to her.

"Harry, please! Don't walk away!" she begged as she followed Harry, who began walking away from her very quickly. "Fine!" Harry stopped walking away, but he didn't turn to look at her. She hugged him from behind and took a deep breath before she whispered in his ear.

"Harry Potter… will you give me the honour of being my boyfriend? Don't you dare say no because this is the only time I'll ever consider this possibility."

Harry was smiling from ear to ear when he turned to face her again. He lifted her in the air, and they exchanged a very passionate kiss. Harry felt an enormous surge of adrenaline rush through his body. Then he thought back to facing Voldemort in the cemetery and how his greatest fear wasn't dying at the Dark Lord's hands; it was the thought of never being able to touch her face again; never being able to see her ice-melting smile or her big gipsy eyes…or kissing her lips…or smelling the citrusy essence emanating from her body.

"Bel… I was so afraid that I would never be able to see you again," he said in a very low voice.

She smiled. "I was afraid that you wouldn't forgive me… I just… I can't even think about the possibility of not having you in my life. Don't ever consider the possibility of not writing me ever again. No matter what happens. I don't think I can bear it…"

He smiled. He couldn't remember being this happy in ages. Annabel was his girlfriend; _who cared if Voldemort was back_? Annabel had just asked him to be her boyfriend! They sat down on the grass, and they stayed there for hours, exchanging a couple of kisses and hugs. It was only when Annabel remembered that her grandmother was probably going to be worried about her delay that they decided to get her house.

"Let me help you carry you this," Harry said, pointing to the bag that was still on her shoulder.

"It's okay," she said, trying to avoid him, but he was already trying to take it from her.

"Come on. What kind of boyfriend do you think I am? Do you really think I'd watch you carry this heavy bag?"

"You just won't let me forget that you're my boyfriend, will you?" she asked, pretending to be annoyed.

"Never," he replied, giving her a quick peck on her lips. "So, how was Russia?" he asked, holding her hand before they started to walk towards her grandmother's house.

"Freezing cold. St. Petersburg is a very beautiful city... it's very artistic. I've made some good friends at the Vaganova Academy. One of them is coming to spend a few days with me in London, but it won't be until the end of August. I'm strongly considering applying to study there after I finally graduate next year. In addition to the Royal Ballet Upper School, I'm also considering some other schools in New York. I think that it would be nice to stay a bit closer to my father for a change," she said, much more for herself than for him.

"I completely forgot that you will be finishing school next year. So, are you going to have a graduation celebration?" Harry asked, curious.

"We do have a graduation presentation. Don't you even consider missing it! I think it'll be during your summer holidays. You've never seen me on stage before, so you must go! You'll have no excuses."

"I wouldn't miss it for anything," Harry assured her.

"You'd better not. Let's stop talking about my boring life. How about you? Which school won that tournament? Did you have a nice end of the term?" she asked curiously.

Harry's face darkened immediately. How could he possibly talk about what had happened at the end of his school term to her? He couldn't; he didn't want to. There would be too many things to hide and lie about; too many sad things to think about.

"It was okay," Harry said simply, but his face said something else.

"Harry, what happened?" she asked worriedly.

For a moment Harry considered the possibility of telling her everything – magic; Voldemort; his scar – He stopped in front of her grandmother's house, thinking silently, but in the end, he realised that she probably wouldn't believe him anyway.

"Nothing that you need to worry about," he said, but she didn't look convinced. "Don't worry; it's not a big deal. I just prefer to not talk about it."

"Er… right," she said slowly. "Would you... would you like to come in? I'm sure my grandmother has made some cookies. She always does when I visit. It's very mean of her, really… She seems to have a problem understanding that I'm supposed to be on a very strict diet!"

"Diet? You're joking, right? Why would you need to be on a diet?" Harry asked, shocked, observing her petite body while trying to think of where she could possibly think she needed to lose weight.

"Ballerinas are always on a diet. I swear its normal; don't worry! We're all weird like that." She grinned at him while she opened the door with her pair of spare keys.

* * *

Despite Voldemort's return, having Annabel as his girlfriend made his summer holiday much more enjoyable than he had ever expected it to be. Despite the fact that Annabel's summer holidays didn't begin until mid-July, she had made an effort to spend every single weekend break from her school in Little Whinging with him. Therefore, Harry would count the seconds until those moments when they would walk around the park or have meals together at the local café; he treasured these little moments that almost made him feel like he was an ordinary teenage boy. But he wasn't.

He was constantly reminded every time he considered the lack of news about Voldemort's movements and the constant feeling that Sirius and his friends were keeping him in the dark. Ron and Hermione tried sending him some mysterious hints that he couldn't really understand. These messages only made him feel even more frustrated than he already was.

Sirius, however, was much more comprehensive, but he still didn't give him advice; this only made him feel annoyed: _"but you need to stay out of trouble_;_" We'll be together soon." _Sirius's last letter, however, made him consider the possibility that he could be watched: _"Avoid showing public affection to people you care about."_ Could his godfather possibly know that he was constantly spending time with Annabel? He didn't tell any of his friends that they had gotten back together – after everyone had shown an immense concern about intercepted letters, he had decided that it was best to wait and tell them whenever they were face to face.

Another person who seemed to be making a strong effort force Harry and Annabel apart was Mrs Figg. For some strange reason he didn't understand, every time the old lady saw the young couple showing the slightest sign of affection in public, she would interrupt them and invite them for a cup of tea. It didn't take long for the couple to realise that, despite the good weather outside, staying inside together in Annabel's grandmother's house and watching a good movie accompanied by nice homemade popcorn was a much better option than being disturbed by inconvenient strangers all the time.

However, their peace didn't last long. With the beginning of the muggle summer holidays, Geoffrey decided that it would be a good idea to move to Little Whinging to spend some time with Annabel and her grandmother. In his own words, the boy was tired of being alone in that big house, but Annabel knew better.

"That prick! He's only here to annoy us. Why didn't he just go to his horrible friends' houses and leave me alone!?"

Apparently, she was right. Geoffrey was constantly following them, playing the role of a very irritating third wheel, making all sorts of inconvenient comments that ranged from Harry's lack of fashion to gossip about Annabel's Russian dates.

"Harry, did I tell you that my cousin Matthew told me about one guy… what's his name again? He told me Bel was making out in a cubicle in a men's restroom stall at a train station with some random guy she just met. He said that she gave him a _blowjob_. Has she gave you one yet? Is she any good?" Geoffrey smirked in a malicious way.

Harry had had to control himself with all of his willpower to not punch the muggle boy in the face, or worse – to hit him with a curse. The worst of all this is that Harry couldn't help the need he had of confronting Annabel when they managed to be left alone, asking her if there was any truth behind Geoffrey's dark comments.

"Harry, are you crazy? Are you really considering believing anything that prat says?" she asked him, looking extremely offended. "Even if I had done everything he said, it wouldn't be your business anyway! Or have you forgotten that I wasn't your official girlfriend at the time? You need to stop being so jealous! We are never going to work out if you keep on being like this!"

She looked very disappointed. Harry knew that he was wrong, and it was time to apologise.

"Bel… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have listened to anything he said."

"Exactly, you shouldn't have. And you should also stop being so jealous. You know just how much I _hate_ _this_."

If Geoffrey had wanted to increase the tension between the young couple, Bel saying that to Harry had helped him succeed. After this episode, Annabel tried to avoid Harry's company and spend as much time as possible at her cousin Jess's house, whereas Harry was certainly a persona non-grata, as her mother was friends with Aunt Petunia.

But Harry had made plans to change his luck with the muggle girl. He was going to await her return from the dance class she was attending at the local studio, holding a bunch of flowers he had stolen from the neighbourhood gardens. He only hoped that it would be enough for her smile at him again and completely forget about their previous misunderstanding.

Amazingly, Dudley's gang members weren't trying to provoke or tease Harry this year. He believed that Dudley had asked them to leave him alone, not because he had had a change of heart, but because the image of his aunt Marge being transformed in a balloon was probably still fresh on his mind.

Harry was waiting for Annabel to return from her tap dance class – he knew the girl would take a shortcut that would require her to walk down a path near the swings where he was sitting. After seeing Dudley and his crew, Harry had started teasing his cousin, saying that 'Big D' needed four big boys to beat up a ten-year-old; somehow the insults turned around to Dudley saying things about Cedric, the other Hogwarts champion who had been murdered in front of Harry in the graveyard the night he encountered Voldemort.

"**Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! He's killed, Cedric! Dad, help me! He's going to – Don't you point that thing at me!"**

Seeing his detestable cousin joking about that was enough to provoke Harry's anger to its limit. Harry, who had been extremely frustrated after being left in the dark by his friends and his godfather and getting caught in Geoffrey's malicious plans, ending up pulling out his wand and placing it near Dudley's healthy neck.

"**Don't ever talk about that again," Harry snarled. "D'you understand me?"**

"**Point that thing somewhere else!"**

"**I said, do you understand me?"**

"**Point it somewhere else!"**

"**DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"**

"Harry?" Annabel's voice whispered a couple of feet away from where Dudley and Harry were standing.

At the same time, a disgustingly dreadful familiar sound had invaded Harry's ears. The stars left the sky, and despite the fact that they were in the beginning of August, the temperature dropped. It took a moment for Harry to realise what was happening, but after a while he had no doubt – somehow there were Dementors in the heart of Little Whinging.

"**C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll h-hit you, I swear I will!"**

"**Dudley, shut –"**

**WHAM. **

Dudley punched Harry, making him fall and his wand fly from his hand.

"**You moron, Dudley!" **

Dudley didn't wait any longer to start to run towards Annabel, who was standing completely still. She was shivering, and Harry's heart beat very fast when he realised that one of the Dementors was standing just a few meters from her.

"**BEL,**** DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!"** Harry screamed while he was blindly trying to find his wand on the ground with the help of his hands. Thankfully, his wand lit up when he cast a _lumos_ spell, and as soon as he had it secure in his hands, Harry stood up and looked at his cousin and girlfriend's direction. One of the Dementors was quickly leaning into Dudley's face, and the other was centimetres away from Annabel's mouth– she was about to receive the kiss – he had no room for mistakes.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" – Harry shouted clearly, the image of him and Annabel together on his head. They were in a park accompanied by three children – _their children_. The familiar silver stag came out of the tip of his wand and trotted to the place the girl was lying.

* * *

As soon as the Dementors disappeared from his sight, Harry ran to Annabel and Dudley. They were both lying unconscious on the ground. He kneeled and leaned down to make sure Annabel was breathing.

"Bel? Can you hear me?" Their lips were almost touching. He was sure that there were no more Dementors near them, but he was still shivering. What if he had performed the spell too late? Was she…?

"Harry?" she said, slowly opening her eyes.

"Thank God, you're still here!" Harry said, letting his wand fall to the ground and hugging her immediately.

"Don't let your wand fall, idiot boy!" a voice shrieked. **"What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!" **

Harry saw old Mrs Figg standing right in front of him.

* * *

"I'm going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!" the old batty lady complained to the wind while Harry was making an epic effort to support Dudley's weight. Mrs Figg was doing her best to support Annabel, who looked like she was going to vomit at any moment, but she at least was still on her feet.

"Attacked by Dementors! Where is Fletcher? We need to inform Dumbledore immediately!"

"You know Dumbledore?"

"Of course I know Dumbledore! Who doesn't know Dumbledore?"

"POTTER! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?" Geoffrey's shouted, full of rage.

"Calm down, Geoffrey! I've done nothing to her," Harry said, trying to not lose his temper.

"The girl is just not feeling well," Mrs Figg answered the teenager boy. "Can you please help her back to Dorothy's place and tell her that a cup of hot chocolate is all your sister needs?"

Geoffrey was about to open his mouth to protest, but he changed his mind. Without exchanging any more words with Harry or Mrs Figg, he took Annabel, who walked away with her without any further arguments. When they were out of sight, Harry, who couldn't hold his questions anymore, finally asked the one burning his tongue most:

"So, are you a witch then? Why haven't you told me before?"

* * *

Harry had barely left his room in the days after the incident with the Dementors. Despite the fact that he didn't want to impose his presence upon the Durselys' – which could possibly lead to an angry Harry performing even more accidental magic, he couldn't help but think about everything that had happened.

Why hadn't Sirius nor his friends answered his letters? Why did they carry on ignoring him after everything that had just happened? What if he was expelled? What would he do with his life?

He had considered leaving the house to pay a visit to Annabel, but he swept that thought from his mind as quickly as it had appeared. The girl would probably still be mad at him, and he was in no mood to deal with an angry Bel. Would she remember anything about the incident? Would the Ministry have sent Obliviators so she wouldn't remember anything that had happened that evening?

It was almost nightfall, and he was looking at the ceiling, thinking about these and other questions, when his room door opened, revealing the girl who had occupied most of his thoughts during these last few days. Her long, curly hair had been let down, hanging just above her waist.

"Bel..." Harry raised one eyebrow, surprised.

She silenced him, placing her finger on her lips and shut the door without making any noise. Once she was inside, she sat down on the edge of Harry's bed.

"Your uncle and your aunt don't know I'm here. I asked them to let me see you, but they refused to let me in," she said in a very low voice.

"How did you manage to get in?" Harry asked curiously while he tried to cover the moving picture of his parents that was on his bedside table.

"Dudley. I've discovered some dirty things about him, so it wasn't hard to convince him to let me in."

"What did you find out about him?" Harry leaned forward, really eager to hear this.

"Well… that's the thing. I've promised him that I'd never tell you his little secret. Neither would I tell it to his friends nor his parents."

"So you are blackmailing my cousin?"

She shrug her sholders in response"

"You really have me curious now." Harry wondered what could be so bad for Dudley to try to hide like that.

"I've really missed you," Harry said, touching her hair and kissing her forehead. He really loved the feel of it in his hands…and that smell! He could spend hours touching her long hair if she'd let him.

"I've really missed you too," she said, laying her head on his chest. They pressed their hand palms together while they maintained a long caring hug. They spent a few moments like this, enjoying each other in complete silence until she raised her head and looked into his eyes. "Harry, what happened that day in the park?"

"Do you remember?" Harry asked, surprised. Did this mean that she hadn't being obliviated?

"Do I remember what?" She frowned her eyebrows.

"What do you remember from that day in the park?" Harry asked, a bit uncertain of just how much he was supposed to reveal.

"Well… I remember that everything went dark and cold… and then… suddenly, everything seemed so depressing. I felt like there was nothing worth living for…"

She remembered. Harry hugged her tight. He was relieved to hear that at least the Ministry hadn't altered her memory.

"And then… I remembered things that…I didn't even know I remembered." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I… I.. s-saw… I remembered h-horrible things…"

"Bel! I'm_ so_ sorry you had to go through that." Harry couldn't help feeling guilty. After all, it was because of him that those Dementors had been sent to Little Whinging.

"I... f-felt so bad!" she said, drying an insistent tear with her sleeve.

"Shhh… everything is fine now. Stop thinking about it." He placed her on his lap and kissed her forehead once again. Part of him wanted to ask her which memories came to mind when she was exposed to the Dementors, but the other part knew that if he made her think about it would only make her feel worse.

"Harry, I think that I deserve to know what really happened that day," she said very seriously. "I have some memories, but they are very blurry and confusing."

Harry covered his face with his hands in despair. What was he going to do now? More than ever he wanted, no, he needed, to tell her everything. However, he couldn't afford to be in even more trouble with the Ministry right now. She was right: she deserved to know, and he was going to find a way to be able to tell her everything, but until then…

"Bel, I'm so sorry!" He could barely look her in the eyes. "There are things about me that I can't tell you, and that's all I can say. I promise that one day I will tell you everything, but until then, I can only beg for you to trust me."

She sighed before answering him. "I was sort of expecting that. Well, at least now I know that I'm not as crazy as Matthew always claims I am. You definitely _are _hiding things from me."

Before he could say anything else, the noise of footsteps approaching his room made Harry stand up immediately and hide Annabel behind his wardrobe door. He sat in his chair and pretended to read one of his school books.

"**We're going out," Uncle Vernon said after putting his head inside Harry's room.**

"**Sorry?"**

"**We – that is to say, your aunt, Dudley and I – are going out."**

"**Fine."**

"**You are not to leave your bedroom while we are away."**

"**OK."**

"**You are not to touch the television, the stereo, or any of our possessions."**

"**Right."**

"**You are not to steal food from the fridge."**

"**OK."**

"**I'm going to lock your door."**

"**You do that."**

Vernon gave Harry a suspicious look before leaving the room and locking Harry and Annabel inside. Once he was far enough away, she asked, "Could he be more horrible?" She gave Harry a hug.

"Welcome to my life. I've been living with these disgusting relatives since I was a toddler." He sighed.

"Oh, Harry!" she said, giving him a small peck on his lips.

"You know what?" she asked, giving him a mischievous grin.

"What?"

"We're home alone, babe."

Harry smiled back at her and quickly closed the curtains. He grabbed her hips, pulled her near, and claimed her mouth in a deep, desperate kiss. She broke the kiss, moving down, sucking and biting his neck in such a needy way that Harry couldn't resist a moan escaping from his lips. While he explored her body with his hands, he wondered if she had noticed the growing bulge in his pants. Not long they began, Annabel took his hand and guided him to his bed, and she sat down on top of him, her legs embracing his body making a very pleasant pressure on his crotch.

"Bel, I don't think this is a good idea…"

"Shhhh… I want it." She took a square packet from her pocket and gave it to him. It took Harry a moment to recognize the condom for what it was.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked gently.

She nodded her head. He bloody wanted her too. He wanted more than he had ever wanted anything on his life – he craved her body more than a fish needed water. She sat down on his bed and easily managed to take off his t-shirt, which let her freely explore and kiss his chest in a way she had never done so before. Harry could barely believe what was happening. He had the girl of his dreams on his bed. He then decided to take control and forced her to swap places with him.

"I love you, Annabel Morelli. Never doubt that" he said, placing a very soft kiss on her lips.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment when he started kissing her neck.

"I love you too, Harry. I think I've loved for a very long time..."

A large grin crossed his lips after he heard her words. How lucky could they both be to share such strong feelings for each other? If this wasn't true love, he didn't know what else could it possibly be.

He moved his hands to her chest and started unbuttoning her blouse. Immediately, Harry felt his magic screaming in his body - he needed to touch her breasts. Harry wanted to go slower, but he knew that a burst of accidental magic could expel itself if he did not touch her chest at that moment. Without stopping to think, he ripped her blouse off with his hands. She raised one eyebrow in surprise, but she was happy when their mouths met in a deep, hungry kiss.

However, the noise of his room door colliding with the wall made both of them jump. Instinctively, Harry grabbed his wand and placed his other hand on her mouth to make sure she would stay quiet. He stood up to listen to the loud voices that were coming from his relatives' lounge. The only clear phrase he managed to understand was a familiar, growling male voice that said, "That muggle girl is here."

"_Stay here_," Harry whispered to Annabel, his heart beating fast.

He swiftly went down the stairs holding his wand securely in his hands

"**Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out" **


	8. Chapter 8

Are you quite sure it's him, Lupin?' he growled. "It'd be nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum?'

'Harry, what form does your Patronus take?' Lupin asked.

'A stag,' said Harry nervously.

'That's him, Mad-Eye,' said Lupin.

If the circumstances had been different, Harry probably would have felt very glad to see Professor Lupin or any other person from the magical world. One week ago, he would have probably done anything to see anyone who could have given him information about Voldemort and what was he up to. However, now the circumstances were very different; after being interrupted in the middle of his "special" moment with his girlfriend, seeing the faces of the large group of familiar and unfamiliar wizards and witches just made him feel a mixture of frustration and disappointment.

Very aware of the nearly twenty pairs of eyes looking at him, Harry felt his face turn pink when he realised that he still wasn't wearing his t-shirt.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, letting a hint of annoyance transpire in his voice.

"We came to pick you up. I'm sorry... I feel like we came at the wrong time," Lupin said apologetically.

"Who was in charge of making sure that the muggles weren't in the house?" Harry heard Moody-Mad-Eye's voice growl. "How did we manage to have such a security breach?"

"I sent the letter to draw out his relatives. But I never imagined that the girl would be here too," said a violet-haired woman.

"I've been on watch for the past six hours. I haven't seen anyone come in," said a vaguely familiar wizard wearing a nice top hat.

"Wait…you've been spying on me?" Harry asked, frowning, his eyebrows drawing together.

"I'm sorry again, Harry, but it was for your own protection." Lupin really looked very sorry saying that. "We really don't have much time; she needs to leave the house now."

Harry sighed. Great! After they had finally made up, they were about to have sex for the first time… he couldn't simply ask her to leave his house without giving her a reasonable explanation. This was absurd! He couldn't do that. He didn't want to do that.

"And if I don't want to go?"

"I'm afraid you have no say in that, boy. After having Dementors hunting you down? Not a fat chance! We can't afford to leave you here. If something like that happens again that forces you to use magic, there is no way you'll get off free from on your interrogation with the Ministry," Moody said sharply.

Harry sighed in resignation. The old auror had a point. He didn't want to lose the only opportunity he had to prove his innocence.

"Harry, I really don't want to rush you, but you need to talk to her. She needs to leave now, and you need to pack your things. We'll be waiting for you in the kitchen."

Harry nodded to Remus in confirmation.

When Harry arrived back to his room, he found Annabel wearing one of his older Quidditch jerseys that she probably had found in his drawer. He couldn't help but grow a smile at that sight. She was standing very quietly near the door. He correctly guessed that she had been trying to listen to the conversation he had had downstairs.

"Red and gold suit you."

"Harry, what's going on?" she asked him seriously.

"It's... the Dursleys will be coming back soon" Harry said the first thing that came to his tongue.

"Who were those people downstairs?" she asked, crossing her arms. "What the hell is a muggle?"

Harry thought for a second before answering her.

"What did you heard exactly?" Harry asked carefully. He didn't want to get into even more trouble with the Ministry by breaking the International Statute of Secrecy.

"I was here listening to you talk with that man when suddenly, I couldn't hear anything at all!" she said, scared. "And then… I tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open for me! It was like there was a ghost here or something… It was so scary!"

She hugged him, searching for comfort; he couldn't help but smile. He momentarily thought about what Nearly Headless Nick would say about that particular episode.

"Don't worry; I assure you it wasn't a ghost. And even if it was a ghost, the majority of them are very friendly," he said, kissing the girl's forehead.

"How do you know that?"

"I have a friend who is a ghost. I was even invited to his five hundred year death anniversary."

"Five-hundred year death anniversary? You have such a wonderful imagination, Harry," she said, hugging him tightly and kissing his lips very softly.

Harry felt such a relief at telling her about an episode from his life that was actually real, even if she didn't believe, even if she thought he was only creating a story to make her feel better. He knew it was the truth that he had told her. It was only when she began pulling him back toward his bed that he remembered that there were more than half a dozen wizards waiting for him downstairs.

"Bel… my relatives are coming back soon. It's better for you to go now," Harry said, hating himself for doing it.

"What a shame!" She sounded very disappointed, but she perked up, giving him a sly smile. "But that's okay. As long as you promise me that we'll carry on exactly where we stopped sometime tomorrow, I'll be a happy girl."

Harry looked down at his feet. There was nothing else that he wanted to do more than this, but he knew that tomorrow they were going to be miles away from each other, and the next time he would see her again would probably be next year. This thought just crushed his heart even more. Well, at least he would have something to look forward to in case he was expelled.

"Bel… I'm going to my friend Ron's house tonight," he said, not seeing the point of hiding this information from her.

She opened her mount in a bit of shock, and her eyes were filled with sadness.

"Oh… right. So I won't see you until…" She didn't finish the sentence. It was painful to think about.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I was caught by surprise too." She hugged him tightly as if she could avoid his departure. It was then that Harry's room door opened with a loud bang, and he realised that it was probably a sign that he needed to hurry up.

"Ron's family is here to pick me up. They are in a hurry… and waiting for me to pack my things so we can go," he said, avoiding looking her in the eyes.

"Okay. I'd better go then," she said, rubbing her eyes to stop the tears from coming out. "Can you accompany me to the door, please?"

Harry and Annabel went down the stairs holding hands. The living room was completely deserted now, and she wasn't able to tell that there were about twenty witches and wizards hiding from her in the kitchen. When Harry was about to open the door to let her go, she suddenly stopped him, placing herself in front of the doorway.

"Just promise me one thing Harry, and then I'll go," she said, placing her hands on his neck, causing him to place his on her waist. "Promise me that you'll attend my graduation performance next summer."

He smiled before giving her an answer.

"I told you before. I won't miss it for anything".

After they had a last kiss and one last hug, they said goodbye for what they believed to be another whole year apart from each other.

The first thing that Harry noticed when they landed at Grimmauld Place was that he knew the area. He had been at that square before exactly one summer ago; Annabel's house was just two roads away from Sirius's place. Harry knew that it wouldn't be long now until his girl would come back to London, which meant that they probably would be able to see each other again sooner than what he had originally thought. This prospect made him feel slightly less grumpy than he had been when he realised that he would need to leave Privet Drive a few hours earlier.

However, one thing didn't change, and it was his frustration of being left in the dark by his two best friends. After a while, he managed to calm down, but it was only when Sirius invited him to ask questions about Voldemort and the Order of the Phoenix that he eventually got rid of some of his feelings of abandonment that he had developed over the summer.

'Like a kind of weapon?' said Harry. 'Something worse than the Avada Kedrava – ?'

'That's enough!'

Mrs Weasley spoke from the shadows beside the door. Harry hadn't noticed her return from taking Ginny upstairs. Her arms were crossed and she looked furious.

'I want you in bed, now. All of you,' she added, looking around at Fred, George, Ron and Hermione.

"Harry, you stay. I want to have another word with you," Sirius said in a firm voice.

"SIRIUS! IF YOU THINK YOU CAN IGNORE DUMBLEDORE'S ORDERS AND TELL HIM MORE THAN HE IS ALLOWED TO KNOW, I WILL STOP YOU FOR GOOD OR FOR BAD!" Molly Weasley shouted with her wand in her fist.

"I'm NOT planning to talk about the Order, Molly!" Sirius said in a very cold voice. "Despite everything you think about me, Harry is my godson, and there are personal things that I need to discuss with him."

"What things can't wait until tomorrow? It's late, Sirius; they need to go to bed!" Mrs Weasley lowered her voice volume and her wand, pleading for his senses while she still exhibited a great deal of disapproval and frustration in her voice.

"I don't think that eleven o'clock is considered to be too late for a fifteen-year-old to be up, Molly." Lupin came to Sirius's rescue.

"Oh, RIGHT!" Molly said, full of frustration by now. "All of you; Ron, Fred, George and Hermione: Time for bed NOW!"

The protests from the twins and from Ron weren't quiet ones. Sirius saw the beginning of the discussion as an opportunity to leave the room with Harry, who quickly understood his godfather's signal and followed him to a small office. By the window in the office, there was a oak desk with one main chair and two guest chairs. Sirius cast an enchantment on the door so nobody else would listen to their talk and sat down in one of the guest chairs and pointed the other one to Harry.

"Are you going to tell me what Voldemort's secret weapon is?" Harry asked him hopefully.

"Sorry Pup, but I wasn't lying to Molly when I told her that I wouldn't tell you anything else about that. What I want to talk about is completely unrelated to that." Sirius grinned. "I want to talk about your relationship with your muggle girl."

"You want to talk about me and Annabel?" Harry asked him.

"Yes, that's right. So, how are things between you two little love birds right now?"

"We're good. She finally decided to be my official girlfriend. And I... wish we could spend more time together," Harry said with a large smile on his face. "That reminds me: her mother's place is only two blocks from here. I'm sure she will be back there next week, as she will be hosting a friend from Russia for a couple of weeks. Do you think that it's possible for me to visit her?"

"Yes, Dumbledore and Tonks mentioned that she lives near here… Tonks said it would be hard to keep you from escaping to her place once you're here." Sirius sgave him a wink and suppressed a laugh. "That was, in fact, one of the things I wanted to discuss with you today. I'm glad you brought it up… believe me, I know how claustrophobic it can be having to stay in this house all of the time, it is driving me crazy not me able to leave this place. And I know that it's going to be very tempting to run away to your girlfriend's house once she is in the area. But I must insist – don't do this. You will only end up putting yourself and her in danger. So if you don't care about yourself, do it at least for her safety."

Harry saw the small flicker of hope he had been feeling fading in front of his eyes.

"So I won't be allowed to see her; that's what you are trying to say?"

"Well, Pup… we'll try to escort you there whenever it's possible;" Sirius said in the middle of a sigh. "As you can see, people from the Order have a great deal of work to do at the moment, but I convinced Dumbledore that making a deal with you and allowing you to go there a couple of times is much better than having you sneaking away without our knowledge. Can I please have your word that you won't try to do that?"

Harry sighed before answering him back.

"Yeah, I guess. I really wish I could bring her here so I could introduce her to all my friends and… tell her about who I really am." Harry said this looking at one portrait that was pretending to sleep on the wall. He felt like he had seen this particular portrait before.

"You know you can't do that Pup… if it was another time... but now the circumstances are completely different. You can't give any more reasons to the Ministry of Magic to expel you or take your wand. Besides, it would do no good for her if Voldemort or any of his followers learned about her existence. That's why we've been trying to keep you and her from showing any affection in public," Sirius said honestly.

"Wait! It was the Order who was trying to sabotage my outings with my girlfriend?" Harry gave Sirius a crossed glare.

"We only wanted to avoid it being public knowledge that you were in a relationship with a muggle, so yes!" Sirius said, ignoring Harry's anger. "Can you imagine what somebody like Rita Skeeter could do with information like that? Besides, we are pretty sure that Voldemort is still unaware of your girlfriend's existence, and I think you will agree with me that it's better if he doesn't know about her!"

"I… I didn't think about it…" Harry said, embarrassed.

"For that reason, I'm going to ask you to do another thing. I know you won't like it, but if you care about her safety, you must do as I say."

"What is it?" Harry asked apprehensively, fearing what was coming.

"You can't write to her this year. I'm sorry Pup, but just stop to think for a minute: what would happen if one of your letters gets intercepted?"

The last thing he wanted was to have Voldemort hurting Annabel in order to take out some sort of sordid revenge against him. Sirius was right – while Voldemort was alive, he could never show any sort of public affection towards Annabel ever again.

"So… is there no way I can tell her that I'm a wizard?" Harry finally asked.

Sirius took a moment, looking to the starless sky through the window, as if looking for answers, before turning his head back to give his godson a reply to his question.

"The International Statute of Secrecy* is a bit less rigid now than it used to be at the beginning of the century. Before the mid-fifties, family members were the only ones allowed to know. Nowadays, even fiancés are allowed to learn the truth one month prior to the wedding."

"You must be kidding!" Harry ran a hand through his hair, a sure sign of his frustration. "I can't carry on lying to her until we get married! It will take years of me telling her lies. This is absurd!"

"If Voldemort wasn't a problem, and if the situation with the Ministry was different, I would suggest that you ask them for a special authorization to be able to reveal yourself to her. I believe that with your name and influence... but, unfortunately, the current political climate is not very good for us at the moment."

Harry covered his face with both of his hands, barely able to contain himself. He had never anticipated how much bureaucracy controlled muggle/magical looked at his godson, who, at the moment, was completely devastated and felt completely helpless.

"They're never going to give it to me, are they?" Harry spoke after the long silence between them. "They will never allow me to tell her."

Harry ran his hands through his hair feeling defeated. He rested both his elbows on the desk and covered his face with his hands. Sirius gave him a gentle tap on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry Pup. You know what would happen if you tell her and they find out, don't you?"

"Yes. Hermione certainly did a very good job educating me on this aspect. She forced me to read a great deal about it actually. If I'm caught, I can even end up staying one month in Azkaban, and she…" Harry didn't finish his sentence because just the thought of what could happen to them made him feel very sad.

If the Ministry found out that a muggle who wasn't entitled to know about magic had somehow come across this knowledge, which was stated according to Clause 86 of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, this muggle would have his/her memory erased with any memory he/she had related to any act of magic or to any wizard or witch that he/she had ever known. Which would meat, in other words, that she wouldn't remember his existence.

"Sirius, I can't handle carry on telling her half-truths and little lies. I love this girl! I'm sure she loves me back. I can't keep lying to her like this. Before the Order arrived, we were just about to…"

But Harry didn't finish his sentence. Part of him wanted to share this bit of information with his godfather, but the other side of him wanted to carry it to the grave. However, an experienced man like Sirius managed to complete Harry's sentence.

"You two were about to have sex?" .

"Y-yes," Harry said, extremely red.

Sirius tried to repress a chick grin while he stood up and walked to the corner of the room, where there was a small mini bar. He then filled two very small crystal cups with a small amount of liquid that looked like fire. Sirius walked back to where he was before and gave one of the cups to Harry to hold. Sirius quickly raised his own glass as giving him a quite toast and downed its content. Harry tried to mirror his godfather's behaviour but couldn't help to be surprised by the taste which wasn't truly unpleasant, but definitely stronger than he anticipated.

"Listen, Harry... this is nothing to be embarrassed about, it is normal for young teens like you and her to want to start this further step in your relationship. In fact, I admit that I started my sexual life when I was around your age."

Sirius then flicked his wand and magically made the Firewisk bottle to float to the desk in front of them. Sirius only carry on with his talking after he had filled up both cups and downed his own drink once more.

"It was very different experience from what you are having with this girl... Annabel, right? She was an outcast Slytherin. I certainly did not love her, and she definitely did not love me back. It was more like... two alike troubled souls helping each other out."

"But now I am an adult. And now I can see how young you are, and how young I was."

"Are you telling me that you regret having slept with that Slytherin girl...?"

"Oh, no. Never. It was a great experience, and I think that it helped both of us to cope with some things... in a nice twisted way. It wasn't public school knowledge. James obviously knew about her, but no one else. We didn't carry on this fling for a long time, we didn't want things to get too awkward."

"So... do you think that me and Bel... should go for it?"

"I think that... It's very understandable that with Voldemort on your tail, and that we might be about to start a war... and after everything you've had to go through with the Triwizard Tournament, might be even harder for you to control your teenage hormones."

"I know, Sirius… we are young, but I can't help feeling the way I do when I'm next to her. And she is so damn hot! You have no idea." Harry looked into his godfather's grey eyes. "The things she does when we're together… it's so hard to control it. What I do know is that… we just feel right!"

"Ah, kiddo! You look exactly like James looked when he was talking about Lily... those two lovebirds!" Sirius released a nostalgic sigh before turning his head back to Harry.

"But yeah... you both are very young, but I believe that you two might be ready for it. But as I was named your godfather, it's my duty to ask you… were you planning on using any protection?"

"Err… we were planning to use a condom." Harry couldn't avoid the pink dusting his cheeks once again.

"Condom?" Sirius asked, confused. "What is a condom?"

"It is a muggle contraceptive…" It was Harry's turn to repress a laugh.

"Oh, you mean those rubber plastic things that the muggles wear on their penises to avoid the sperm to come in contact with the uterus?"

"Er… yeah. I supposed that's what it's for."

"Harry, listen to me: you are a wizard. I assure you that this muggle thing won't work for wizards. You will only end up making it disappear with some accidental magic or something, especially when you are so inexperienced at sex." Sirius gave him a small pat on his shoulders.

"Is accidental magic common during sex, then? I felt like I was about to do something when we were together..." Harry asked him curiously.

"Oh yes, it's not rare for even very experienced wizards to perform some accidental magic when they are in intercourse. It is a little bit more unusual during foreplay, but it's normal as well, especially at the beginning of your sex life… or when you've been a long time without it."

"Right. So… if condoms don't work for wizards, and I can't perform the temporaria contra conceptionem spell without being expelled, what kind of magical contraception should I use?"

"Did Snivellus teach you how to brew any contraception potion yet?"

"Er… no, I don't think so."

Sirius shook his head in a sign of disapproval for the Hogwarts Potions teacher.

"Go to the school nurse, and ask her for some advice on which potion would be better for you and your girlfriend to take. Don't forget to mention that she is a muggle, as I am sure this will limit your safe options."

"Right, I will do that," Harry said, wondering how embarrassed he will feel when the time comes for him to seek advice from Madame Pomfrey. "Anything else that you think I should know about?"

"Whenever you decided to do it, make sure you please your woman. Nothing is more exciting than having a woman moaning with pleasure in your bed." Sirius put both of his hands on Harry's shoulders as if he was going to give him very serious advice. "I have nothing against the traditional missionary position, but doggie style is the best!"

Harry rolled his eyes, unsure if he should laugh or hide his face from embarrassment again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Pottermore additional information, Isobel McGonagall was forced to hide the truth about her magic from her muggle husband until Minerva was born. However, John Lupin told his muggle fiancé weeks before their marriage that he was a wizard.
> 
> Petunia also knew that her sister was a witch – and she even shared this information with Vernon once they were engaged. However, it's unclear if Petunia could share it because she wasn't a witch – so, maybe free from the Ministry's retaliation. – or, if she was allowed to share it because he would now be part of her family. For this story, I'm going with the first option.
> 
> The truth is… there is no canon answer for this dilemma so far (I couldn't find any canon information that states clearly when wizards are legally allowed to tell their partners about magic). Therefore, I'm creating my own rules about that aspect. :)


	9. Their favourite neighbour

One week had passed since Harry had moved to the Order of the Phoenix's general headquarters. Although they were all very busy cleaning and disinfecting Sirius's family home, it was nice to have his two best friends with him once again. On Thursday, he had attended his hearing at the Ministry and had been cleared of all the charges that had been brought up against him. Interestingly enough, the Ministry had seemed completely unaware that Harry and Dudley had not been alone when Harry had cast his Patronus, saving not only his idiot cousin but his girlfriend as well.

Harry had been warned by members of the Order prior to the hearing to avoiding talking about Annabel's presence at the scene unless they specifically asked him about her. Luckily they hadn't, which meant that her presence in his life was still unknown by both the Ministry and by Voldemort.

They were all having dinner together on Friday, the day of the week that the Order usually held their meetings when Sirius broke the news that Harry had been waiting for since he had found out where he was going to be staying.

"Dumbledore has given me permission to escort you to your girlfriend's house tomorrow morning." Sirius grinned

"Really?" Harry said, almost choking on his mashed potatoes. "Am I going to be able to introduce you to her?"

"Well, you'll be able to introduce her to Snuffles, which is almost as good," Sirius said with resignation.

"I'm going to be joining you guys tomorrow as well." Harry heard Remus Lupin enter the conversation. "I'm really curious to finally meet the girl who stolen the heart of Prongs's son."

"She is a pretty nice girl," Tonks said, helping herself to an extra portion of peas, "although I'm really sure that her family is quite nuts if you ask me. Saying her mother's wedding was '_dramatic_' would be the understatement of the century."

"How do you know what happened at her mother's wedding?" Harry asked, glaring at the pink-haired witch.

"Oh, sorry Harry, I couldn't tell you at the time." She smiled at him, and the Metamorphmagus changed her appearance in front of Harry. Once she finished, Harry immediately recognized her.

"Naomi? Hold on… were you lot spying on me last year as well?" Harry glared at the rest of the Order members, eyes full of hostility.

"Calm down, Harry; she was only trying to help Dumbledore out!" Remus interfered, defending Tonks.

"Why did Dumbledore want me to be followed last year? Voldemort hadn't even returned yet while I was there!"

"Harry, Dumbledore reads signs that nobody else does. He probably felt that making sure that you were okay was for the best," Sirius pleaded. "There are things that Dumbledore and I disagree on, but I don't disagree with his having your safety as his main concern."

Harry swallowed his surly feelings while trying to analyse what Sirius had just said. Had Dumbledore already known that Voldemort would want to use his blood in order to come back? No…there was no way he could have known that, right? With so many students at Hogwarts, why would he dedicate so much time and concern for his safety? Harry felt that they were most likely keeping something from him, but he didn't feel like trying to squeeze the truth from Sirius or the others; they probably wouldn't tell him anyway.

"I'm also going to be joining your escort team tomorrow, Harry," Mr Weasley said with a warm smile from the other side of the table.

"Wait, how many people are going to escort me there?" Harry asked, feeling a bit annoyed. It was bad enough to arrive at her place without warning. It would look even worse to show up bringing a bunch of people with him.

"Don't worry, Pup. We have a whole plan set up so you won't look too bad for bringing us with you," Sirius said with a reassuring look.

Harry was excited to be seeing his girlfriend, but he was also a bit frustrated that their meeting with her was likely to be interrupted by a large gathering of wizards who were trying to ensure that they were _'safe'_. Moreover, he also knew that he was going to need to inform her that he wouldn't be able to send her letters anymore. He didn't know what her reaction would be once he told her that, but he was certain that she would not be happy.

Saturday morning arrived and Harry found himself being one of the first inhabitants of Grimmauld Place going down for breakfast. Sirius was there already, helping Molly out with the scrambled eggs and was looking particularly cheerful, singing whatever song was playing on the radio, which was currently set to the music programme _Witching Hour_.

When the clock struck ten-thirty, everyone escorting Harry to Annabel's house lined up in the kitchen and waited for more instructions. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the one who was coordinating the operation gave different doses of youth potion to the Order members who were going except, of course, Sirius, who was going to accompany them in his animagus form, and Dora, who could change her appearance any help.

Mr Weasley, Remus, Bill, and Kingsley all suddenly looked like fourteen- and fifteen-year-old teenage boys. Tonks adjusted her appearance so she would have younger, masculine features.

"Oh, Arthur! I forgot how cute you were when we first started dating!" Molly exclaimed, making Mr Weasley blush.

Kingsley took several football uniforms from a bag and handed one to each "teen" who was escorting Harry, including one for Harry himself. The uniforms were all red and black, and they had a Phoenix logo on them. They were also smelly and dirty and looked like had just been worn.

"What interesting shoes those muggle men wear!" Mr Weasley exclaimed, analyzing his pair of cleats meticulously. "What an odd-looking sole!"

"Yuck! This is disgusting!" Harry couldn't avoid saying after the Auror handed over a dirty uniform to him.

"If it makes you feel better, it's not real sweat. I only charmed them to look disgusting," Kingsley said, changing from his own robes and into the dirty football team disguise. "A little bird told me that Miss Morelli believes that you used to play football at school. Well, I think you can understand what you're supposed to be doing around the area, right?"

"You're expecting me to tell her that we're all playing football together?" Harry asked. It was a very clever cover, but still… he didn't want to see her while he was smelling homeless.

"That's right! This would explain why you are accompanied by a large number of friends, though bear in mind that the potion's effects will start wearing off after two hours, so we will need to keep one eye on the time," Kingsley said seriously. "Now, is everybody ready? Cool. Let's go!"

It was an interesting experience, walking down the road, accompanied by old adults who looked exactly like they used to look when they had been his age. Sirius could hardly hide his excitement at finally getting a chance to be out of that house. He was running in circles around them, wagging his tail very happy at being out on such a beautiful Saturday morning.

Because Annabel's house was only a street over from Sirius's place, it didn't take more than three minutes until Harry was pressing her doorbell. He was surprised when Helen, Annabel's mother, opened the door. Harry knew that her presence wasn't very regular at their residence.

"How can I help you?" Helen asked him very formally.

"Mrs Harrison, I don't know if you remember me; I'm Harry… Annabel's _boyfriend_. Is she home?"

"Oh, Harry! You look so different in these clothes; I didn't recognize you. It's been so long since I've seen you! Please come in! She is upstairs with her friend who arrived yesterday from Russia. They had a class booked for today, but it has just been cancelled." She then looked behind him and noticed that a half a dozen guys, plus a black dog, were accompanying him. "Your friends are welcome to join us too."

Helen guided then to the kitchen where Harry was surprised to find Geoffrey, who was making himself a cup of tea. Annabel's stepbrother looked at Harry and his _friends_ from his head to his shoes and looked as if he had caught a whiff of a very unpleasant odour.

"Geoffrey dear, I think you remember Harry? Annabel's friend from Little Whinging?" she asked him, not noticing the look of disdain on his face. "Would you mind serving some drinks for him and his friends while I go upstairs to get her? I'm sure Bel is going to be delighted with this surprise!"

Geoffrey, who looked as if he would rather murder Harry than serve him anything, answered her sharply.

"Helen, your golden heart really surprises me. Inviting a bunch of peasants into your own house and offering them a drink? I know very few people who would be half as generous."

Helen, who was already at the doorway, turned back to answer him.

"You boys, please forgive my stepson's sharp sense of humour. He knows that if he doesn't behave properly, he won't be going on the ski holiday in Switzerland with his schoolmates during the New Year."

"There's a woman who knows how to hit me where it hurts," Geoffrey said with a grin and waited patiently until she was too far away to hear anything he said. "So, the only thing I can offer you is water from the tap in a plastic cup. I'm afraid we would never be able to remove the stains your filthy hands would leave on the china cups."

"Geoffrey, I'm very used to your sarcastic comments, and I really don't give a shit about them, but I won't have you talking like that to my friends!" Harry said.

"Don't worry, Harry." Lupin decided to take part in the conversation. "We are the ones who wouldn't want to touch anything that came from this spoiled brat, especially if rudeness is contagious. I would hate to end up looking like he does, with that expression that says, '_My bogey smells like shit_._'_"

All the young-looking adults present had a little laugh at his comment. Despite that, Geoffrey remained completely unshaken.

"Says the one who looks like he just came from a war zone and lost the battle in a tremendously shameful way." Geoffrey tried to attack them again.

"For your information, we won the match," Harry heard the young-looking answering him. It was strangely weird how his voice also sounded slightly different than the voice that Harry was used to hearing.

"Now I am surprised! What was the score?" Geoffrey asked again.

Harry was about to answer, but Mr Weasley was quicker.

"230-50," he said proudly.

Geoffrey, however, started laughing manically.

"Really? 230-50? If you had given me a more believable answer, I could have called you a bad liar, but telling me this result, the only reasonable thing is that you escaped from a lunatic asylum."

Harry and Lupin were about to give him another answer to try to 'fix' Mr Weasley's blunt mistake, but they were interrupted by Annabel, who came running into the room and wrapped her arms around Harry, ignoring his dirty clothes and the smell of sweat that was emanating from them.

"Excuse me lads, but I need to go there and vomit," Geoff said just after Annabel surprised Harry by giving him a small peck on his lips.

"Harry! Why didn't you tell me you were coming here? We could have planned something for us to do together!" Annabel said, looking at his friends. "Are these members of your school football team?"

"Yes, this is Remus, Bill, Tonks, Arthur and Kingsley. All the best players from the Hogwarts team, of course! Guys, this is Annabel, my girlfriend."

Annabel rolled her eyes after hearing that last word, but she smiled in the end.

"And this is Dasha, my friend from the Vaganova Academy!" Annabel pointed to a blond girl with extremely pale skin that he hadn't noticed yet. "We were going to meet up for lunch and ice-skating with some of my friends from the Royal Ballet. Why don't you guys join us! It's going to be very fun."

"I'm sorry, but we have a serious game coming up, and we need to practice." Kingsley answered her shortly.

Bel looked very disappointed, but she seemed to understand their reason.

"Never mind. We'll need to do something else together whenever this game is over then!" It was only then that the girl noticed the black dog that was sitting very well-behaved in her kitchen. "Wow, what a beautiful dog! Come here, boy! Is it a boy?"

"Yes, it's a boy. Snuffles is his name." Harry smiled.

Annabel bent down to be on Sirius's – well, Snuffles's—eye level and started to pet him straight away. Almost immediately her friend Dasha joined her. Harry noticed that Lupin was holding in his laugh while he watched his childhood friend being petted by the two teenage girls. Sirius looked like he was enjoying himself, receiving all the attention from them.

"Who is his owner?" Bel asked while she massaged Sirius's dog ears.

Lupin, Bill, and Tonks were fighting hard to hold in their laughs after that comment. Harry, himself, found that it required all of his willpower in order to contain himself.

"He belongs to the team," Kingsley answered in the end. "He is our team mascot."

They carried on petting Sirius for a while until Annabel stood up again and started to make tea and coffee for everyone. Harry looked at his watch a bit apprehensively; he knew that they didn't have much time to be together, and he would really rather spend this time with her alone. He knew that it would be rude for her to leave all her guests alone and lock herself up with him in an empty room, but he also knew that he had important issues to talk to her about that he would much prefer to do in private than in front of half of the Order.

"Bel… I need to have a quick word with you," Harry said in the end, almost whispering it in her ear when she was finishing the last cup of tea. "In private"

"Oh, okay." She nodded to him and politely excused herself and dragged Harry out of the room by holding his hand. He was following her up the stairs when he noticed that 'Snuffles' was following them around.

"Si-Snuffles! What are you doing following us here?! Go back with the others. We need to talk!" Harry told off Snuffles 'the dog,' looking extremely cross, but Sirius ignored his protests and carried on following them.

"Relax, Harry! I think he liked me," Annabel answered him, going down a few steps and petting Sirius even more.

"I think that he is being very noisy, that is what I think!" Harry said, still annoyed with his godfather. Sirius knew how they felt… he knew how little time they were allowed together. Why was he doing that?

Just after they arrived in her room and closed the door, Annabel threw herself into Harry's arms and started kissing him with passion. In the beginning, he was a bit reluctant, but he didn't need much persuading to reach a snog session that was almost as strong as the last one they had had in his room at his aunt and uncle's home. Harry knew that only if five wizards weren't waiting for them downstairs, or if Sirius wasn't present in her room…Sirius! Harry pushed her away as soon he remembered that Sirius was sitting ever-patiently in this very room with them.

To Harry's relief, Sirius was sitting in front of her window, looking extremely interested in the road movement. Still, Harry couldn't help but feel very embarrassed for having done all those things with his girlfriend in front of his godfather.

"Harry! Why did you stop? Just when it was starting to get good…" she said, trying to get back to his arms, but he managed to hold her back.

"Bel, we need to talk," he said seriously, but she rolled her eyes.

"Talk? Why do we need to talk? I need to go soon to meet up with my friends, and you'll need to practice with your friends and… we have no idea when we'll be able to see each other again!" she said hugging him. "Can you just enjoy the moment and forget about whatever else is on your mind?"

"Bel, it's really important. It's so important that I don't even know how to start telling you," Harry said, looking deep into her eyes.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

Harry looked to his godfather, seeking a reassuring look, but Sirius still had both of his eyes fixed on the window. Harry was going to be on his own for this. He took both of Annabel's hands and sat down with her on the corner of her bed.

"You know that I love you right? I wasn't just saying it in the heat of the moment last time. I really love you deeply... with all my heart." He stroked her hair with one of his hands. "So don't think that this will not be hard for me; just telling you this now is ripping my heart to shreds now."

"Okay, now you are scaring me. Spit it out!" She opened widely her big eyes, fearing the words that would come out his mouth.

Harry gave a long, deep sigh before answering her.

"Bel… I'm not going to be able to send you _any_ letter this year. Please, understand that _this is not my fault_! It's not like I'm _choosing_ not to write you, because there is nothing that I enjoy more during my school year than receiving one of your letters," he said, completely doleful.

They stayed silent for a moment, Annabel stroking his hand until she finally decided that even though she had promised herself that she wouldn't ask him questions that she felt like he wouldn't be able to answer, she had to know:

"Why can't you write to me?"

"That's one of those questions that I can't give you the answer to just yet. I promise that everything will make sense one day, but until then you'll need to trust me."

"I do trust you, Harry." Even though she wasn't crying, her eyes were teary. "The question is, when are you going to learn to trust me for a change?

"Bel, I do want to tell you, I really do! But, unfortunately, it's not as simple as you think it is!"

"Enough, Harry! Okay, you can't send me a letter through Hedwig, fine! So why can't you send me an email instead?"

"I told you before, Bel… there is no computer at my school; even if it did have one, I doubt it would be able to connect to the internet. It's just too far away from civilization."

"Why did you want me to be your girlfriend then? It is difficult enough to keep a long-distance relationship with letters. And now, you want to remove the letters…"

"Bel, listen to me: I don't _want_ to stop sending you the letters. I _have _to stop sending them. Those two phrases have completely different meanings!" He had both of his hands on her face. _She had to understand the difference_.

But she closed her eyes, letting her tears fall on her delicate face. She sighed and opened them again to find the saddest Harry that she had ever seen.

"You are the woman of my life, Bel. If there is one thing that I really want from life, that thing is you. I want to marry you; I want you to be the mother of my children; I want to share all the days of my life with you."

"Harry, for God's sake, we are fifteen!" She moved her face away, but he delicately moved her head so she would look him in the eyes once more.

"I know… but you need to understand how much I love you. And now, more than ever, I need you to trust me on this! It's not safe for me to carry on writing to you. Please, understand it!"

They stayed in complete silence for another long moment until she decided her answer.

"Okay. I still don't understand, but I will look over it, as I always do!" It was her turn to bring him closer and seal the new agreement with a kiss.

"I promise I will come over to see you here during Christmas…well, if you don't travel this year…" Harry said, seeking Snuffles's eyes. After hearing that, he immediately stopped looking out the window and looked at the teenage couple instead.

"Well, if staying here means that I will see you before June, even if it's for a couple of hours, my answer is – I'm staying here this Christmas, no matter what!"

Harry gave her a large smile and looked at his dog godfather.

"Do you think you can help me come here to see her during Christmas break, Snuffles?"

Sirius the dog gave a bark and wagged his tail.

"I think that's a yes!" Harry said, smiling from his godfather to his girlfriend. "If Snuffles is helping me, then there is no way that I'm not going to see you during Christmas!"

"I told you that dog liked me!" she said, hugging Harry and smiling towards the dog. "Do I get to choose my Christmas present?"

"Depends… what do you want?"

"I would like you to spend the night here with me so we can finish what we started a week ago on Privet Drive." She gave him a cheeky grin.

Harry blushed, and Snuffles started to rolling on the floor with a funny expression in his eyes.

* * *

The journey back to Number 12 Grimmauld Place was a bit rushed because the potion's effect was starting to wear off. When they had all safely arrived at the Order's safe house, they were all faced with a wave of questions lead by the Weasley twins.

"What does this crazy girl look like?"

"Is she blind?"

"Does she have mental problems?"

"Does she have a beard?"

"Oh, stop, both of you! Give the poor boy a break, will you?" Mrs Weasley shouted from the other side of the room. "Did everything go according to the plan?"

"Everything went very smoothly," Kingsley answered her. "We also checked her house for jinxes and spells, and it's all clean."

Harry noticed that Ron and Hermione were trying to call his attention with some gestures, probably wanting to talk to him privately, but Sirius was faster and asked him at once.

"Harry, we need to have a quick word; would you mind?"

Harry nodded in agreement and followed his godfather to the same office that they had had the talk a few days ago. When they were both comfortably seated once again, Sirius started.

"I'm sorry that I had to follow you into her room. Her house doesn't have magical wards, and it wasn't prudent to leave you two alone until he had properly checked the house for traps."

Harry remained silent; he wouldn't lie and say that it was okay and that he didn't really mind what his godfather had done. He now understood his reasons, but it didn't make him feel any more comfortable about it. Sirius thought for a while and then decided to share another piece of information with his godson.

"You know what, Harry? When I was told that your girl lived nearby, I found that was already a huge coincidence. What I never expected, though, is that she would be somehow related to the best friend I had before I went to Hogwarts. The world is really a very small place, isn't it?"

Harry, who wasn't really expecting that to come up in their talk, found that his curiosity was much bigger than the embarrassment that he had felt at Sirius's being present in his girlfriend's room when they were supposed to be sharing some private moments.

"Were you friends with Annabel's mother?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Helen, my friend? No way! But her brother Alfred and I really enjoyed making the life of the White twins a hell… oh yeah!" Sirius gave him a large smile. "Of course, it started to get a bit boring when we were growing up, but sometimes we would still do it, just for old time's sake! Helen was the toughest female I've ever meet. She wouldn't take any shit, that little one. Her sister Annabel was quite the opposite actually – she was so delicate that you would think that she would break if you held her too tight."

"Annabel? That's my girlfriend's name!"

"I see why Helen named her daughter after her sister. Despite their differences, they were very close, those two. I'll never forgive my brother Regulus for what he did, the bloody bastard!" Sirius clenched his fists full of rage.

"What did he do?"

"He handed Alfred to Voldemort's followers, that's what he did!" Sirius took a deep breath before continuing.

"After he finished school, Alfred used to work as the presenter of a very popular muggle radio station. I was working full time for the Order at the time, and we had information about a massive attack that was being organized by Death Eaters that was going to happen. I asked Alfred to transmit the information on the radio so that muggles would avoid that place." Sirius sighed deeply. Harry could see the guilt that was haunting his godfather's eyes.

"He saved thousands of lives with that announcement, I'm sure. But he ended up condemning him and his whole family instead. Helen was out the night that the Death Eaters attacked the White residence. That's how she managed to escape their fate." Sirius's eyes were fixed on the bookshelf.

"Annabel told me that her mother's family died from a gas leak!" Harry said, shocked with the new information about his girlfriend's family.

"Oh yeah, it was hard to make her believe that! James, Lily, and I spent ages trying to convince her of that bullshit to keep her from having her memory obliviated. I'm still not entirely sure if she bought it."

"Did Mrs Harrison know my parents?" Harry asked, astonished.

"Mrs Harrison, huh? I can't believe she managed to get married, that one… her husband must be a saint!" Sirius grinned. "I saw the Dark Mark over his house and went down there straight away. Helen was there, sobbing over her sister's dead body. Guess who I found there with her? My scum brother, the newest Voldemort acquisition, Regulus!"

"No!" Harry said in complete shock.

"Oh yes! I bet all the money in the world that he was the one who told Voldemort where Alfred and his family lived! I bet he was there, torturing and killing them in cold blood with his fellow Death Eaters. I swear to you, Harry… until that moment, I truly believed that Regie would redeem himself one day. I truly believed that he was only a very naïve boy that had made the wrong choices because he was too obtuse to think with his own head. But then I saw him for what he actually was: a cold-blooded murderer!"

"What happened then? Did you capture him?"

"Unfortunately, no. The motherfucker escaped from my fingers! He was with Helen when I arrived. I bet he was just about to kill her! Finishing off his dirty job…"

"I'm glad you arrived!" Harry was truly glad about his godfather's interference. If Sirius hadn't saved Helen, Annabel would never have been born.

"He died few weeks after that though. Found out about it from his Death Eaters' friends. I've heard that it was Voldemort himself who killed him, but I don't believe it. He was too much of a piece of shit to deserve _such an honour_," Sirius said sarcastically.

"And what happened to Helen?"

"I put her in hiding with Lily, who knew better how to deal with muggles, until it was safe to deliver her back to the rest of her distant family who was still alive."

"I can't believe that my parents met Bel's mother. This is so unexpected!"

"Yeah, sometimes it baffles me. It makes me wonder if the universe isn't actually the size of a peanut after all."


	10. Queen of the Willis

Annabel one more examined her extremely pale reflection in the mirror of the Royal Opera House dressing room. She still couldn't believe that she was there and that she had just performed the role of Myrtha from the ballet Giselle for her final graduation performance. She knew that she had been lucky to get this role; Marianne, her classmate who was supposed to play the role, unfortunately, had fallen victim to a very serious injury to her knee one month prior to the performance, and it was obvious to the doctors and the teachers that she wouldn't recover in time for the big day.

It was just the way of the ballet world: one person's downfall was another's chance to shine. Despite the fact that Annabel enjoyed Marianne's company, she couldn't deny that she had been very thrilled with the opportunity to perform an important role for their graduation day. She had really worked hard at the rehearsals, making sure that she performed all of the movements with the perfection required by a Royal Ballet student. She also didn't want to disappoint the teachers who had trusted her with such an important task. To make this opportunity even more significant, important people from academies across the world would be there in the audience, paying close attention to the students' movements, judging each one, deciding who had the potential of becoming a new promising star.

The bright light from the spotlights, plus the adrenaline she had to focus in order to perform her part with perfection, made it very hard for her to identify anyone in the audience. While she cleaned her make-up, she couldn't stop herself from wondering who from her family and friends would be there to see her. From those, there was only one person she hoped would be there more than anyone else – Harry.

The truth was that since his last few visits to her house on last Christmas break, she hadn't really heard anything from him. She had even asked her grandmother to ask the Dursleys how the boy was doing, but no real answer had been obtained. Despite the distance and the lack of communication, she still considered herself to be his girlfriend, and she missed him deeply.

His absence hurt her so much that the first thing that she put back on when she was rid of the Myrtha costume was the locket that Harry had given to her on Christmas Eve. The locket was made of gold, and it portrayed the figure of a doe on the front and the crest of the Potter family on the back. Inside, there was one picture of her and another picture of Harry. He had told her that night that his father had given the piece of jewellery to his mother on their first wedding anniversary.

At first, she hadn't liked the fact that he had given her something which was clearly of such great sentimental value for him. However, she couldn't deny that having the locket always by her chest made her feel somehow much more connected to him, despite their distance. It constantly reminded her that wherever he was, he still loved and cared for her.

In fact, she knew the only thing that prevented him from going down on his knee and asking her to marry him was probably the fact that they were too young to be allowed to do so. Also, Annabel knew that Harry realised that she probably would end up rejecting the proposal anyway. Although she had no doubt of her love for him, she still had problems accepting the idea of married commitment. She believed that fairy tales with romantic endings were just truth in fiction, not in real life. She and Harry already had a perfect dynamic, and she didn't want to spoil it with the everyday routines that came with such a commitment.

Once she was completely dressed in her own clothes, she waved a farewell to her colleagues who were still there, and she walked to where she had previously agreed to meet her family. The first thing she noticed was her mother's presence, which really shocked her. Previous disappointments with her constant absences had convinced Annabel to not count on her mother's presence at special events. She smiled and hugged her grandmother who had also been waiting for her with a beautiful flower bouquet. Her cousin Jess was also there with her mother and brother, as were Geoffrey and his father. Matthew's parents were just behind him talking to their son. However, there was no sight of the person that she had been hoping to see the most. Where were Harry and his godfather? She looked at her grandmother who understood her question before it left her lips.

"He is not here, my darling," she said with pity. "He went back to Petunia's three days ago, but I haven't seen him ever since he walked through their front door. It's weird; he usually comes by my house to have a cup of tea and say hello when he is back from his studies."

Annabel couldn't hide the disappointment that filled her at that moment. She had given him the tickets for the play just after he had given her the locket. He had then promised he would be there with his godfather… but neither of them was there.

"You… you were beautiful, Bel," Geoffrey said shyly; no sign of mocking on his voice. "You looked like an angel…"

"Er, thanks, although I was supposed to be looking like an evil, vengeful ghost. I'm glad that you enjoyed the play."

"I really liked your solo. Your figurine was so amazing!" her cousin said with a bright, big smile.

"_Bebelz_!" Her best friend Matt came running in her direction. "What an amazing performance you had!"

"You did amazingly too, Matt. I really enjoyed killing you! We should do this more often," Annabel said playfully after hugging her friend.

"You technically didn't kill me! You ordered Leanne and Clarice to kill me instead," he joked.

"Whatever… it's the same result in the end, isn't it?"

"Come on, the big boss wants to see us!" Matt said, grabbing her hand.

"_Re-really_?" Annabel asked in shock. 'The big boss' was their private nickname for the art director of the company. "Guys, I'll be right back." And without thinking twice, she followed her friend.

"Do you know what this is about?" She could only think that they either had done something very good or very bad.

"No idea, but that meeting is in twenty-five minutes. I'm sorry for stealing you from your family, but he is here, and I need you to do that favour for me," he asked her with pleading eyes.

"Oh, that!" she said, remembering what she had promised to do.

"Do you want me to explain the situation to Harry?" Matt asked, worried about the consequences it could have on her relationship.

"No… he didn't come," she grumbled sadly.

"_Oh_…" he said, feeling bad for his friend. Matt knew how badly she has been missing the owl guy.

Despite his young age, it wasn't news to anyone in his family that Matthew Harrison was a homosexual. Being raised in an open-minded family, he never really had to hide what he was. However, after falling in love with Alan, the son of an army man, Matt had been exposed for the first time to what was like to live a secretive life.

The problem was that Alan's parents had started to get suspicious of the newly flourished friendship between their son and the ballet boy. Matt and Alan decided to implement a plan that would nullify the suspicions of his family. They decided to find Alan a 'fake girlfriend' who was also a ballerina; they hoped this would give them a nice alibi for Alan's friendship with Matt, who in this little production would play the role of the friend who had introduced the loving couple.

It took some persuasion to get Annabel to accept participating in their plan. Initially, it was because they had warned her that Alan's parents might want her to introduce them to her family, and everyone in her family knew that she was with Harry. The second reason was Harry himself. She knew how jealous Harry could get sometimes, but at the same time, she couldn't see why he would mind that she was pretending to date a gay guy. It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong… she was only helping a friend out, right?

"Look, here they are!" Matthew pointed out a skinny boy that she had met a couple of times during their classmate hang-outs.

"Er... right," she said, looking at the boy who was supposed to be her boyfriend for the night. She tried to look happy to see him, but she undoubtedly wasn't doing a very good job because Matthew immediately whispered in her ears.

"Christ, Bebelz! Could you please look a little bit more excited? Just imagine that it's Harry waiting there for you, right?"

And so she did. She grinned at him and started to walk on larger steps. However, it was hard for her to hide the surprise on her face when Alan grabbed her by the waist and gave her a small peck on her lips. She wasn't really expecting to have that kind of interaction with him… they hadn't mentioned that in the deal. She quickly looked at Matthew, who looked like he wanted to grab her by her hair and roll with her on the floor. She considered her possibilities and finally decided that the best she could do was just go with it.

"Mum, Dad, I want to introduce you the girl I've been talking so much about. This is Annabelle, my girlfriend," he said, smiling from her to his parents, his hands still applying firm pressure to her waist.

"Hmm, so you are the famous girl who has stolen my little boy's heart!" his mother said, analysing her figure. "You have a pretty face, but you are too thin. Don't they feed you properly at this ballet school of yours?"

Annabel opened her mouth but shut it straight away as she couldn't find an appropriate response to the woman's comment.

"Hold your tongue, woman; can't you see that you are embarrassing the poor girl?" It was Alan's father who had spoken this time. "I'm Jeremy, Alan's father. I'm very happy to finally meet you… I don't know why it took our boy so long to set up this meeting."

"It was probably my fault. I've been so busy rehearsing for this presentation that I've barely had time to see your son."

"Well, I've heard that it's your school's half-term next week, right? I know that you two little lovebirds have made plans for almost every single day of the week!" Jeremy said with a grin.

"I insist that you come to our home to have lunch on one of those days. You need to eat well and add some shape to your figure," Alan's mother said, pointing to her breasts and bum.

Annabel felt her cheeks redden. She couldn't wait to be far away from this woman. Annabel vowed to herself to kill Matthew Harrison…again.

"Are your parents here? I would love to have a word with them…" Jeremy said casually.

"Oh, her parents are coming later…" Matt said, taking the pressure off her shoulders. "We're having a meeting with the crew in a few minutes that probably will take a couple of hours. I know that you work tomorrow, sir. Maybe it's better to leave that for another day?"

"I'm not leaving until we at least arrange a meeting so we can get to know you better, hun." Alan's mother proved that she wouldn't give up so easily.

"Er…okay." Annabel felt as if spending more time with Alan's parents would be the last thing she would choose to do with her free time. However, Matthew was her best friend, and his pleading face was enough to make her decide to make that sacrifice.

"Why don't we let Anna decide which day, time, and place are best for her? This is a nice way to guarantee that she won't back out at the last minute again," Alan suggested.

"How about we all have a tea together at my grandmother's? I will let Alan know the date as soon as I know which time will suit her better, okay? Now, if you could please excuse me and Matt… we are a bit late, and we have a meeting to attend," Annabel said in an attempt to try to get rid of their company as soon as possible.

"Sure, baby… my parents need to go home, but I will be here waiting for you, okay?" Alan said, tenderly touching her face.

"You'd better be," she said, aiming to give him a kiss on his cheek, but Alan turned his face so that she ended up kissing his lips. The boy tried to transform the small peak into a proper kiss, but she discreetly gave him a strong pinch on his shoulder, making him stop the attempt straight away.

After giving Alan's parents a quick farewell that seemed to take forever, Annabel and Matthew went back to the part of the theatre that was reserved for the ballet crew. Both friends decided to sit down on a couple of steps far away from the big crowd of students.

"Matthew! What the hell was your boyfriend thinking? Trying to kiss me like that! Christ!" she said in an accusative voice.

"I don't know!" Matthew said, frustrated. "He is going to have to explain himself."

"Of course I'm happy to help you guys and everything else…you know how I've been one of the biggest supporters of your relationship and all… but imagine if Harry had come today and seen this! I told you how jealous he is…" Annabel bit her lip.

"I will talk to Alan," Matt answered with a sigh. "Though, despite my immense dislike of the whole scene, I must agree that the little pecks do add a bit of reliability to your 'relationship.' However, I agree that that last kiss he was trying to give you was extremely excessive."

"And you'd better be with me whenever his family comes around mine for this bloody tea! I'm definitely not facing them on my own!" She looked intensely on his eyes as if she was daring him to declare that he wouldn't be present for the occasion.

"Don't worry; I will be by your side!" He gave her a comforting tap on her shoulders. "So, your grandmother is in Surrey, right?"

"Yes; I was planning to spend as much time as possible with Harry before my flight," she said, sadly looking down her feet.

"Does Harry know that you are going to leave the country?" Matthew asked, trying to comfort her.

"No… we haven't spoken since Christmas," she said, looking to the wall. "I… feel so bad that he didn't come here tonight! He knew how important today was to me…"

"I'm sure he has his reasons. Maybe that horrible family of his locked him in again…" Matthew said, trying to cheer her up.

"Or maybe he got himself a new girlfriend at that school of his…" she said seriously.

"Don't be silly! That guy is crazy for you!"

"So why is he not here?" she complained.

"Something must have happened to him," Matthew said as if it was the most obvious thing on Earth. "Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll find out tomorrow." Matthew looked down at his watch. "It's almost time for our meeting, by the way."

While she walked side by side with Matthew, hoping to hear some good news at this meeting, she tried to move her thoughts away from Harry Potter.

* * *

It had been only a couple of days since Harry had arrived on Privet Drive. Because of the threats that the members of the Order had scared the Dursleys with when they came to pick their nephew up at King's Cross station, he had been excused from helping with any household chores this summer. Had they done this any other year, Harry would have felt very happy, but now it meant that he had almost no reason to leave the boredom of his bedroom.

Of course, Harry would come down to join his relatives during meal times. He also would leave his room whenever he needed to pop into the loo. But apart from that, he would spend most of his free time locked up in the small bedroom without prompt, having Hedwig as his only companion. He didn't complain. It was nice to have silence and peace to try to digest the horrible things that had happened at the end of his last school term.

Sirius Black was dead. Sirius Black was dead, and he wasn't coming back. Sirius was dead, and it was all Harry's fault. If he had only taken Snape's Occlumency lessons more seriously… if he had opened Sirius's wrapped package containing the small mirror that his godfather had given to him… if only he hadn't been naïve enough to fall into Voldemort's trap…

This feeling of guilt was consuming him. He was looking forward meeting up with Annabel once again, hoping that being near his girl would make him feel a bit more cheerful. It had been fifteen past midnight when Harry had seen the cab that had left the girl and her grandmother at the elder's house. He only hoped that she would forget his absence at her big performance. It wasn't his fault after all. Sirius had promised him last Christmas that he would find a way to take Harry to the theatre. But now Sirius was no longer there to keep his promises, and no one else from the Order seemed keen on helping him go on this little excursion into muggle London.

In fact, he had been stopped by Kingsley as he was trying to sneak out of Little Whinging to see Annabel's play. The knowledge that the Order members were still guarding him didn't make him feel any better. Although he disliked this over-protection, now that he knew about the prophecy, he at least could understand the reason for it to be this way.

The first rays of light of the new day invaded his window, letting him know that he had not slept at all that night. Hoping that this day would be better than the previous one, he got out of his bed after a long yawn. Despite all his sorrow, he couldn't wait to see Annabel once again. And the fact that it would happen sooner or later that day meant that this morning was the most promising Harry had had in a while.

* * *

Annabel was washing dishes from the breakfast that she had had with her grandmother only a few moments ago. She had asked her nan to teach her how to make poached eggs and her special hollandaise sauce. The eggs weren't very hard to make, but because of the amount of butter involved in its making, she would have rather not learned how to make the hollandaise sauce after all. Now that she knew, she would never be able enjoying eating it again.

She was in the middle of scrubbing off the frying pan when she felt a pair of hands blocking her sight. Her heart started beating fast, and she could feel his body hugging her from behind. It was impossible not to let a smile escape from her lips when she placed her still-wet hands over his.

"Harry," she whispered.

Unable to wait any longer, Harry released her eyes and turned her face to his, immediately catching her lips in a long, desperate kiss. She responded to the kiss with even greater intensity. Her hands roamed his body under his t-shirt, while his hands were gently stroking her hair. At that moment, she forgot everything; she forgot that she was supposed to be mad with him for not attending her graduation performance; she forgot that her nan was in the house, only a few rooms away from them.

"How did I survive without you for such a long time?" he whispered in her right ear, causing her let a small moan escape while she carved her short, but well-manicured, nails into his skin.

This was enough to make him even more excited. He placed her on the table, and he decided it was his turn to explore her body. As he touched her thighs under her skirt in a way he had never done before, she decided to open her legs slightly, a clear sign of invitation for him to be even more daring and cross even more boundaries. At this moment, the small part of Harry's brain that was still conscious tried to figure out how he could get Annabel to take the potion that was given to him by Madam Pomfrey earlier that year.

However, the noise of footsteps coming in their direction was enough to make them break apart just as quickly as they had started the snog. Annabel jumped from the table so fast that it looked to Harry as if she had apparated. Harry noticed that her lips were extremely bruised, and her hair was probably messier than his own had ever been.

"I found the recipe book from your granddad's mother, which has…" Mrs Morelli entered her kitchen, and her eyes went from one teenager to the other. The smirk on her face made it clear that she had guessed what had been going on between the two of them before her abrupt arrival.

"Good morning, ma'am," Harry said, trying to sound neutral.

"Good morning, Harry. It has been a long time since I last saw you. Why haven't you visited me like you usually do?"

"I… I've been busy with some things," he lied.

"I was surprised to not see you at the Opera House. Yesterday, I went to Petunia's to see if you wanted to go with me, but she said you weren't home…"

"I had some problems with my journey," he said, thinking about Kingsley demanding him to get back to his relatives' safe house on the previous night. "Believe me, I feel very bad for having missed it… I really wanted to see your performance, Bel," he said, turning back to his girlfriend.

"Well, you missed your chance," she said a bit dryly. "I got lucky at the last moment and ended up landing a major role."

"Which role?" Harry asked, curious.

"I was a ghost named Myrtha," she answered him casually.

"I know a ghost named Myrtle. She haunts the girls' toilet on the second floor," Harry said without thinking.

"Oh, let me guess! It was her birthday party that you went to?" Annabel said in a mocking voice. She clearly didn't think that Harry had been serious.

"No, it was Nick's party that I've been to. And it wasn't a birthday party; it was more like a death anniversary party…"

"That sounds a bit morbid!" Mrs Morelli answered instead of her granddaughter.

"Oh Nan, Harry's imagination can be a bit too much sometimes…" Annabel said with a smile.

"You two must have so many things to catch up on. Come on; let me finish this, my dear," Mrs. Morelli said, taking over the washing up. "It's such a beautiful day! Why don't you two go to talk in the garden?"

Annabel opened her mouth to protest, but she was silenced by her grandmother's glare. Before either of the teenagers could think, they were both sitting down under a tree in her grandmother's garden, Harry's head comfortably placed on her lap. Harry felt a bit embarrassed when he thought that they were probably being watched by someone from the Order.

They remained quiet for a while, doing nothing more than purely enjoying the presence and the touch of each other. Harry analysed her figure more closely and noticed that her appearance had changed a lot since last Christmas. She looked much more like a woman and less like the little girl that he had once met. He closed his eyes while he enjoyed the touch of her hands stroking his hair. A peaceful feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time invaded his chest.

"Why couldn't you come to see me yesterday?" she asked, not louder than a whisper. "I know that you weren't completely honest with my Nan earlier on."

Harry opened his eyes and sat up beside her.

"I wasn't allowed to go," he said simply.

"But… if your aunt said you weren't home…"

"I was probably trying to get to the train station at that time. But, as I said, I wasn't allowed to go," he said with a sigh.

Annabel looked deeply into his eyes; she knew that he was being as honest as she could hope for. She knew that he kept an infinite number of things from her, but she had long decided to accept that mysterious side of him.

"I was just really looking forward to seeing you there, especially because you were finally going to introduce me to your godfather. You talk so much about him… what is his name again? It's Sirius, isn't it?"

Annabel said this, hoping that the mention of his godfather would make Harry ease back into the relaxed state he had been before she had queried him about his absence last night. However, his reaction turned out to be the complete opposite of what she was expecting it to be. Immediately after hearing the mention of his godfather, Harry turned his back to her and moved few centimetres away from her. A bitter, sorrowful expression appeared on his face, and if she wasn't wrong, she could see a little bit of guilt as well.

"Harry," she said, moving her body where he could see her, "What is wrong?"

He didn't answer her question immediately; instead, he tried to turn his face once again to avoid her, but she softly turned it back.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Her pretty doll eyes stared into his green ones, full of concern.

Harry remained silent. It felt like saying the bitter truth loudly would somehow make it even more real. After all, he hadn't really talked about Sirius with any of his friends yet. The nearest he had gotten to actually talking about him was when he had rushed to ask Headless Nick about his godfather's whereabouts. However, the Gryffindor ghost had been adamant when he had said that Sirius wasn't going to come back. The wound was still fresh, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to share his pain with anyone.

"Harry?" Annabel tried again, placing both of her hands on the contours of his face and touching his forehead with her own. She could hear him breathing out of sync, his tired eyes from the lack of sleep beginning to get watery; these actions showed her that whatever had happened to him, it was undoubtedly something very serious. Since she had known Harry, she had never seen him cry, not even when he was just a little boy who had been beaten up by his terrible relatives; Harry had always been a tough boy, and he had never presented any sign of weakness. However, now he was breaking down, threatening to fall apart in her arms, all signs of his seemingly impenetrable armour vanishing before her eyes.

"It's ok to feel sad, Harry. You can cry," she said no louder than a whisper.

That was all it took for him to hide his face in her chest and crumble in silent tears. He didn't make a sound, and if it hadn't been for the feeling of his tears on her skin, she wouldn't have known that he was crying at all.

They stayed there, alone and in complete silence, for what seemed to be a very long time. While the reason for his crying was still a mystery to her, Annabel knew that Harry needed that moment. She stroked his hair and gave him little kisses on his forehead in an attempt to comfort him. Once he was feeling ready to face her again, he dried his tears on her cardigan in an attempt to hide them from her. However, he could not disguise the redness in his eyes. She held back the urge to ask him the reason for his unexpected breakdown, kissing his lips tenderly instead.

"He is dead," Harry said very quietly. "Sirius is dead."

Annabel bit her lips, not knowing what to say. Harry then hugged her so strongly that he almost hurt her.

However, her heart hurt even more than her body when he whispered into her ear, "He is dead. He is dead, and it is my fault, Bel," he said just before moving his head to her chest once more.

Annabel remained quiet, not knowing how to react. After all, what he had said was worse than anything she could have imagined. Not only had he lost his godfather, but for some unknown reason, Harry felt like he was also responsible for his death. She knew that she would have to find a way to make him feel better.

After learning about the latest events in Harry's life, Annabel couldn't help but feel very sorry for him. She knew that he didn't want or need her pity, but the truth was that his godfather had been the closest thing to a real family that the boy had ever had. More than anybody else, she knew about all the bullying and agony that her boyfriend had suffered years ago at the Dursleys' hands. No matter how many times Harry had tried to cover it up or tell her that he was okay, she knew that their abuse and mistreatment had left scars that only he knew how deep they were.

After all, trying to get Harry to confess something he did not want to reveal had always been an almost impossible mission. After he had managed to calm down a bit, the girl had tried to inquire about the circumstances surrounding the death of Sirius Black. However, all she could squeeze from his nonsensical speech was that Harry had fallen into a trap, and that was the main reason why he believed that his godfather's death was his responsibility. The grounds and events that had led him to be deceived and fall into this trap still remained a complete mystery to Annabel since Harry was reluctant to give her any extra information regarding that.

"Harry, I just can't see why are you feeling guilty for have fallen into a trap. You told me that Sirius was murdered by a mad woman. She is the one to be blamed, not you!" she tried to argue with him.

"It's not only that. There are things that I could have done to avoid that, but I ignored them," Harry said, thinking about the two-way mirror and the Occlumency lessons with Snape.

"Like what?" she asked, crossing her arms in a clear sign of annoyance.

"I… it's complicated," he said with a sigh. "Look, why don't you tell me about your performance last night?"

She didn't reply his comment. If she hadn't known that he was emotionally shaken up because of his recent loss, she might have gotten really upset by what she saw as signals of him avoiding her questions. Why would he insist on avoiding talking about the secretive life he lived when he wasn't with her?

"Please Bel… don't be upset with me. Look, it's not my fault that I can't tell you! I didn't write the law, right?" he said, frustrated.

"Which law?" she asked, confused.

"Doesn't matter," he said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. He had probably said more than he should have. He needed to change the subject before he revealed something much more serious. "Why don't you tell me about how the rest of your school year has been?" he asked in an attempt to change subjects once again.

"It was all right. One of my classmates got injured almost a month before our final presentation. That's how I end up getting a major role in the – Harry! What hell is that thing on your hand?" Her eyes were wide, looking at the scar on his hand that said 'I must not tell lies'; despite the fact that it had already healed, it still looked a bit spooky.

"That's… nothing really," Harry said, trying to hide his hand from her sight. "It's only a punishment given to me by a sadistic old woman of whom I had the misfortune of being a student."

"Harry, that's horrible," Annabel said, biting her lip. "You should have told another adult. They could have contacted social services."

She knew that he probably wouldn't want to give her any details about that either. It had been like that when Harry had been bullied by his relatives, and surely it would carry on being like that now. After all, the teen had always been so secretive with her about the things that happened around him anyway.

"Believe me, that evil woman got what she deserved the end of the year. Besides, she is not coming back to my school. Not now that everybody knows that I'm not the liar she claimed I was being after all."

Annabel opened her mouth, thinking about asking him more questions in relation to this particular episode, but she ended up repressing her urge before the words could pass her lips. She realised that asking him anything related to an event that had occurred at his school this year would be pointless. Besides, he always seemed to end up revealing more information about his other life when he wasn't being pressured to talk about it anyway.

* * *

Seven days had passed since Harry and Annabel had finally been reunited after their long seven months apart. It wasn't a surprise that they had barely spent any time far away from each other. Some of this time they spent in Annabel's grandmother's garden or in her living room. Despite her immense sympathy for Harry, the old woman seemed to be doing her best to keep the teenagers from being left alone in her home, and she would insist that Harry go back to his relatives' any time she needed to go out.

The rest of the time, Annabel had managed to sneak into Harry quarters without any of the Dursley family noticing. Despite Harry having successfully slipped the contraception potion into the girl's apple juice about five days ago, they hadn't really done anything more than innocent kisses and patting whenever they had the opportunity to stay alone. At least, according to Madam Pomfrey, they would be protected during the next two moon cycles.

Perhaps it had something to do with Annabel respecting Harry's recent loss, or perhaps it was because she was subconsciously afraid of Harry's reaction. But the truth was that Annabel ended up forgetting to mention the relationship she was pretending to have with Matthew's boyfriend. In fact, she had spent so much time enjoying her own relationship that she had forgotten about tea with the boy's parents on Saturday afternoon once her grandmother had left for bingo with Mrs Figg.

She and Matthew had agreed that she would tell them a story about an emergency that prevented anyone from her family to be present – and hopefully make this meeting as brief as possible. Both teenagers agreed that it wouldn't be right to involve the adults of her family in their plot, but Matthew pleads to have at least Geoffrey by their side.

"At least having your brother there will give some reliability to the story!" Matthew begged while they arranged everything on the phone.

"Matt, he is my step-brother. Can't you ask any of your other friends to pose as my brother? Your cousin Geoffrey is a pain in the ass when he wants to be," Annabel replied, uncertain.

"Anyone trustworthy is on holiday, Bebelz. Don't worry about Geoffz. I have my ways of making him behave like a true lord," Matthew promised.

"If you say so… okay, I will receive Alan's parents at half past three, but they must be gone before my nan comes back from bingo, all right?"

Because of Mrs Morelli's recent insistence of not allowing Harry and her granddaughter be alone whenever she had to leave her house, the boy didn't find it suspicious when the old lady asked him to leave after they had all finished having lunch together, as she had to prepare herself to go to bingo.

Harry, who knew the old lady's routine, already knew what to expect on that sunny afternoon. However, he had desperately hoped that Annabel would try to smuggle herself into the Dursleys' garden's once her grandmother was out. In order to facilitate her access into their household, Harry had decided to position himself at a strategic spot in the Dursleys' garden while he read a defensive spells book that he had gotten for Christmas last year. He knew that his aunt wouldn't be able to see him from inside the house, but Annabel could easily see where he was from hers. However, it wasn't her beautiful, tiny waistline that he saw as he turned his face up, having heard the quick approach of footsteps in his direction.

"How have you been, Scarface? It's such a beautiful day, isn't it?" Geoffrey grinned in his direction from the other side of the wooden fence.

Harry immediately stood up and slammed the book down so strongly that he could feel his hand throbbing.

"What are you doing here, _Gooberfrey_?" Harry grunted to the boy that reminded him Malfoy so much.

"I was at Dorothy's residence, kindly helping my dear stepsister serve the afternoon tea to her lovely boyfriend when I saw your sad figure from the kitchen window. I couldn't resist the temptation to come here and ask you: How does it feel to be dumped so badly?" the teen asked with a stupid grin on his face.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Harry growled angrily while he tried to resist the urge to get his wand.

"Of course you don't know! The betrayed is always the last to know… but I have a clean conscious as I have warned you before that your precious girl was never a woman of only one man." Geoffrey smirked, really enjoying seeing the anger and confusion on Harry's face.

"If you are trying to get me to start another fight with Bel, you're wasting your time," Harry said, trying his best to control his temper.

"It's like they say, isn't it: The worst kind of blind is the one who refuses to see. Why don't you turn around and see it with your own eyes? Even a visually impaired person like yourself would be able to see that your lovely girlfriend is hosting a tea party for her new parents-in-law."

Harry couldn't help but turn his head to the girl's grandmother's house. He couldn't see it very clearly, as they were all inside the house, but a large number of shadows walking around the living room made it clear that something was going on.

"So, little Bel didn't ask you to join us on this joyful gathering? How rude of her; let me make up for her behaviour: why don't you come with me so you can see it better?"

He knew that he shouldn't trust the spoiled brat, especially when Geoffrey looked so pleased with himself. But curiosity had always been one of his weak spots. There were definitely some visitors at the house, though he had seen Annabel's grandmother leaving the house earlier on. After considering his options for a brief second, Harry ended up deciding to jump the fence and follow the other teenager. After all, Harry was certain that everything that Geoffrey was bragging about was unfounded rubbish. And it was with the mentality of proving Geoffrey wrong that he decided to go see what his girlfriend was up to.

Nobody in the house noticed when both teens snuck in the house through the back door, which was located in the kitchen area. The unrecognizable voices that were coming from the living room confirmed that, in fact, there were other people present in the house. Geoffrey placed his index finger to his lips, asking for silence, and pointed to the door which led to the hall between the kitchen and living room. Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance, but he followed the other boy anyway.

The first person in the room that Harry noticed was Annabel's school friend that he had met during her mother's wedding. The teen immediately acknowledged Harry's presence, and he couldn't deny that the boy was shocked, almost scared, after the two of them exchanged glances. It was then that Harry saw Annabel sitting on the lap of another guy while they had a friendly chat with an older couple whom Harry had never seen before. Annabel and the guy's position didn't allow them to see that Harry had just entered the family room, but the guy's parents could see him clearly.

"So Mum, Anna and I are thinking about going on a short romantic holiday during this summer break; just me and her, nothing very far. We're thinking about Cornwall, isn't that right, honey?" The guy said this last word looking straight into Annabel's eyes.

"Yes, my love, that's right! We've been dreaming about it for quite a long time," Annabel said, stroking the guy's arm in a way similar as she usually did to Harry.

"As long as her parents also agree, I don't see why you young lovebirds shouldn't go for it!"

"Hey, Bel! Look who I found wandering around who has kindly agreed to join us!" Geoffrey grinned cheerfully.

There was nothing that could describe Annabel's face as she turned to find Harry standing in the hallway near Geoffrey. Harry looked back at her, hurt and disappointed; he felt like he wanted nothing more than to be able to disappear from that room. Without waiting any longer, Harry turned on his heels and dashed away from her house before anyone had time to say anything to hold him back.

Annabel watched Harry walk away from her grandmother's house, completely paralysed. This couldn't be happening; it had to be a nightmare.

"What was that all about?" Alan's mother asked, confused.

"That was… a catastrophe," Matthew answered.

Annabel, who was feeling too guilty to carry on pretending anything at all, stood up with some difficulty before she realised that she was actually shaking; she then glared, full of rage at Geoffrey, who still had that silly smile on his face. But his grin faded away immediately after he noticed that her anger had been turned in his direction.

"I'm going to kill you, you twat!" Annabel growled and started to run in his direction with closed fists ready to attack him. However, Matthew, noticing her uncontrolled temper, was faster and held her in order to avoid the physical attack.

"Matt, let me go! Let me kill this idiot!" the teenager girl screamed, and she struggled like a fish out of the water while trying to get rid of his grip.

"My dear cousin, why don't you do yourself a favour and disappear from our sights before I decide to join Bebelz instead of holding her back!" Matthew said harshly to Geoffrey.

Geoffrey, who noticed that things weren't going to get any better for him any time soon, left the house just as Harry had left a few moments before him. Alan's parents, who remained ignorant of the reason behind this entire scene, exchanged some worried glances between them. Realising the danger, Alan quickly suggested to his parents that it was time to make a move, and after a brief farewell, they quickly left, leaving Annabel free to cry on Matthew's shoulders.

* * *

Harry couldn't stop shaking with rage. How could she have done that to him? After all the good moments they had shared; all the years of friendship, confessions and cuddles; all the dreams that he had nourished of a bright future for them. Then she had to go and stab him in the back. He could feel his heart crumbling into a thousand pieces.

He knew he had not been a very present boyfriend, but she could at least have been honest with him and ended their relationship before moving on and starting to date other guys. '_Yes, my love, that's right! We've been dreaming about it for quite a long time,_' her voice kept echoing in his head. My love – was that what she had called that other guy; _'we've been dreaming about it for quite a long time_;' how long was 'a long time'? Would they have already started dating when Harry went to spend Christmas at her house in London? How could she slyly disguise it so well?

Just when he was finally starting to recover a little from Sirius's death, she came and pushed him down even further. With his heart full of sorrow, Harry stumbled through his bedroom door before collapsing on his bed. He knew that being stuck in Little Whinging had never been as painful as it was going to be now.

* * *

"Hey, Dursely!" Annabel called to Harry's cousin as she saw him walking near her house. "I need your help again."

"What have you done to Harry, girl?" Dudley asked her in an accusatory tone. "He's been locked in that room since he returned from your place, and he didn't come down to dinner yesterday or breakfast this morning."

"She has done nothing wrong, mate," Matthew stepped in, defending his best friend, "and she needs your help to make him realize that."

"Please, Dudley, it's very important for me to talk to him. I need to fix things between us before I go back to school," she begged, targeting Harry's cousin with pleading eyes.

"Can I trust that you haven't done anything wrong to Harry?" Dudley asked suspiciously.

"Of course I haven't!" Annabel told him, feeling offended. "Besides, since when do you care about Harry's feelings anyway?"

"I told you that she has done nothing wrong. All she's done is help me and my boyfriend out with something."

"Boyfriend? Oh, so you are…" Dudley widened his eyes.

"Dudley! Are you going to help me out or not?" Annabel asked firmly.

"Okay. I can get you into his room, but please don't be very loud because my parents are in the house, and you know how Dad can get when he is angry…"

When Annabel entered Harry's room, she found him sitting at his desk, surrounded by old-looking books. He was concentrating extremely hard, writing with a feather onto a large piece of parchment. He didn't seem to acknowledge her presence until he heard the door behind her being shut.

After realizing who had invaded his room, Harry frowned and immediately took precautions to hide his work, covering all the contents of his desk with a blanket. Then he stood up, adjusted his glasses on his face, and spoke with a very calm and controlled voice.

"What are you doing here?"

"I needed to see you before I return to school."

"Good. You saw me; now you can go." Harry pointed to the door.

"I know you think that you saw something yesterday, but what you saw wasn't what really happened. If you'd just let me explain…"

"Explain what? Explain how you have been playing with my feelings for God knows how long? Explain why I have been naïve for letting myself believe that you could be happy being only with me? Why, Annabel, why? Why didn't you break up with me before starting another relationship?"

"Harry, that's the thing: there was never another relationship! Everything you saw yesterday was nothing but an act!"

"Oh sure, I saw how comfortable you were playing your _part_!" Harry's voice raised slightly. "Your brother Geoffrey was right – you'll never be a woman of only one man."

"So now you're listening to Geoffrey's brilliant thoughts about me instead of hearing what I have to say?" Annabel asked, starting to get angry as well.

"There is nothing that you can say that will change the fact that I saw you sitting on that guy's lap, talking to his parents, and planning a holiday together."

"Yes, I won't deny that it happened, but if you'd make an effort to understand the circumstances behind what I was doing, maybe you could see that what I did wasn't as much an act of infidelity and betrayal as you claim it to be."

"So tell me then; what were the circumstances behind your act?" Harry challenged.

"I… I think you should go down with me and talk to Matthew about that; after all, it's not my secret to share." She blushed.

"Matthew? Your friend from school? What does he have to do with it? Is he also a part of your secret harem?"

Annabel was disgusted with Harry; she could barely keep herself from slapping him after that insulting suggestion.

"How… how dare you! How dare you insinuate something as ridiculous as that!" she growled with anger.

"Yesterday, you completely broke my trust. I trusted you with all my heart, and you lied to me!"

"You're saying that I've lied to you?" Annabel laughed incredulously. "I've _never_ lied to you! You, on the other hand…"

"I on the other hand, what?" He furiously dared her to answer.

"You have never _not_ lied to me! Don't you dare deny it! You always keep things from me …"

"That is completely different! Believe me, I would have told you those things ages ago if I had been allowed. But unlike what you did, the things I've been keeping from you weren't things that would hurt your feelings, break your trust!"

"But it did hurt! Having you ask me to trust you blindly, let you be involved in whatever has been happening over the last few years, has been excruciating on me! However, the only time I ask you to give me a small bit of trust, you deny me that!"

"Well, what do you want me to believe? You want me to believe that you weren't sitting on that guy's lap when I entered that room? Or do you want me to believe that you didn't say the things I heard you saying….?" Harry said sarcastically.

"I told you that it was an act, for GOD'S SAKE, HARRY!" She was starting to lose her temper.

"Who were you acting for? For me, the stupid, love-sick boyfriend?"

"Of course it wasn't for you! I was pretending to have a relationship with Alan so his parents would go easy on…look, if you'd just go downstairs and have a quick talk with Matthew, you'll see how unreasonable you are being!"

"Whatever you two have to say, I'm not buying it," he said sceptically

"I can't believe you are going to let your pride and stubbornness destroy everything we had like this!" She looked at him, angry and disappointed.

"It wasn't my pride and stubbornness; it was your irresponsible lack of commitment, your immature way of playing with other people's feelings that have destroyed everything."

Annabel took a deep breath before carefully removing the chain that Harry had given to her the previous Christmas from around her neck and placed it on his bed.

"If that's what you think…well, at least I have a clean conscience that I've done nothing wrong! I hope you also feel the same about the things you've kept from me during all these years."

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but he decided against whatever he was about to say when he noticed that she was about to leave the room.

"I wish you all the best," she said just before shutting the door, avoiding his eyes.

Silent tears cascaded from her eyes as she walked down the stairs. She was so upset that she couldn't avoid bumping into Harry's uncle, who let lose a string of curses, forcing her to flee the Dursleys' residence even faster than normal. If she hadn't been so disturbed, maybe she would have found it strange that Dudley and Matthew –two more different people she couldn't name– were still having a very engaged conversation by her grandmother's house.

When Matthew saw that Annabel had left the Dursleys' and noticed his best friend's poor demeanour, he stopped talking to Dudley to give her a warm hug.

"Oh no! Don't tell me he didn't listen to you! This is all my fault…"

He had felt incredibly guilty for what had happened the previous day, and he really had hoped that his friend and the 'owl guy' would have worked everything out before they had to return to school.

"It's not your fault, Matt! The problem is that your cousin Geoffrey is a selfish idiot, and Harry has managed to be even more stubborn than I am at my worst."

"Still… I shouldn't have involved you in my problems. I will find a way to fix it somehow."

"It's pointless to try and make him see the reason right now," Annabel said sadly.

"Well, that may be, but I want to have a go! Dudley, my dear, could you help me into your house to have a word with your cousin?" Matthew turned to ask the favour of his newest acquitance.

However, before Dudley could give him any answer, Annabel cut him off.

"No! Don't you dare talk to him behind my back, Matt! This is between Harry and me. I'm going to call a cab to take us back to school," she said firmly before going back into the house, leaving the two male teenagers alone. When Matthew was certain that she couldn't hear him anymore, he turned to face Dudley and asked him in a very low voice.

"Dudley, mate, I need to ask a very important favour of you."

"I'm not usually the kind of person who gives away free favours to people, but because I believe that I owe this to Harry, and I do sympathize with you, I think I can make an exception. Tell me what you need, Matthew."

* * *

_ **A couple of days later…** _

Harry couldn't believe that Dumbledore had indeed kept his word and had come to fetch him from Privet Drive. Now that the headmaster had already told his relatives everything he had come to tell, they were waiting in the hall while Harry was trying to find his invisibility cloak in middle of the clutter in his school trunk. After it was safely stuffed inside his pocket, Dumbledore had sent off all of his luggage to the Burrow, and they were just about to leave, they were caught by surprise by Dudley, who was calling his cousin's name from the other side of the hallway.

"Dudley? What do you want?" Harry asked, surprised.

"I… I'm sorry; I should have given this to you before, but my printer ran out of ink," Dudley said, handing a thick brown envelope to his cousin.

"What is this?" Harry asked, intrigued as he took it from Dudley's hand.

"It's an e-mail from Matthew, a friend of that Morelli girl that you are so fond of. As you don't have an e-mail address, he asked me to print this and give it to you."

Harry's face immediately darkened with the mention of 'that Morelli girl.'

"Sorry, dude, but I'm not interested in it," Harry replied and tried to give the envelope back to Dudley, but he refused to take it back.

"You really should read it," Dudley insisted.

Harry was about to open his mouth to protest, but he was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"Harry, my boy, I apologize for interrupting you, but I think that it's time for us to make our move and pursue that flighty temptress called adventure," Professor Dumbledore said with a grin.

"Bye, Dudley; see you next year," Harry said before following the headmaster out of the house.

While he walked side by side with the headmaster, Harry felt his mood had worsened since he had been cornered in the hallway by his cousin. Having Matthew's printed letter with him made him feel like the open wound on his heart had just been poked with a sharp object. After the row he had had with Annabel, he was determined to move on and forget everything about the girl. He was sick and tired of all the drama, and he really didn't want to listen to anything that she or her friend might have to tell him.

"Troubled mind, Harry?" Dumbledore, who hadn't been as oblivious as Harry had thought, asked with a kind smile. "Or should I say, troubled heart?"

Harry felt his cheeks burn. _'Of course'_, he thought, feeling a bit a bit embarrassed, _'if the Order was still keeping one eye on me, Dumbledore might have heard some things about it_._'_

"Er… yes, sir. I think you can say that" Harry told him before crushing the envelope without even opening it.

"Are you not curious to see what your friend might have to say?" Dumbledore asked him casually.

"No," Harry said heavy-hearted. "There is nothing in the world that can justify what she did," and without thinking twice, Harry threw the crushed letter into the first public bin they walked by. Dumbledore looked intrigued by the teenager's gesture.

"I thought that by now, you would know better than anyone else that the logical, most obvious explanation is not necessarily the correct one; that's why we should remain open-minded to every source of information before we reach a conclusion, even to the ones that are considered unreliable to many… Anyway, you should keep your wand ready, Harry. Just in case…" Dumbledore said calmly.

Harry couldn't come up with an answer for the headmaster's commentary, so he remained quiet while he tried to understand what he had told him. Was the headmaster perhaps suggesting that he should have read the letter instead of just getting rid of it without giving it any attention? However, shortly after, Dumbledore apparated Harry away from Privet Drive. This left him no time to give the matter any consideration or to change his mind on that particular aspect.


	11. Making amends

Years ahead Harry would look back and have no doubt that despite the threat of the imminent war that been haunting the castle, added to all the terrible things that came with it, that year had been the most normal he ever had at Hogwarts. Even considering Dumbledore's death – that had happened that same year - and all the gossips about him being, or not being '_The Chosen One_', had followed him around. He had been the Capitan of Quidditch team, had got himself some detentions while he tried to guess what Malfoy was up to, and had even dated a couple of girls – including Cho Chang, Romilda Vane and Ginny Weasley.

Firstly when he started to date other girls, it was the way he found to cope and move on from the resentfulness that he still carried from his previous relationship. However, Ginny had been the only one who he had decided to really try hard. Besides she been Ron's young sister, he had learned through the years to enjoy her company. Ginny was funny, smart, easy-going and also extremely beautiful. He genuinely believed that he could end up falling in love with her if he carried on insisting on their relationship.

But then, Dumbledore died and everything suddenly Harry returned to his dormitory on the day that Dumbledore had passed away, the first thing he realized was that Fawkes had stopped to singing its lamentation song. The Phoenix had left their school ground forever as Dumbledore had left the world. It was then that he noticed the presence of two letters and a single red feather that immediately recognized as belonging to Fawkes.

With trembling hands, he opened the smallest envelope which had the headmaster elegant hand-letter. Inside it, Harry noticed two pieces of paper; one was an official document issued by the Ministry of Magic and the second one a letter from Dumbledore himself. Harry ignored the official looking one and opened the second letter so desperately that he almost ended up tearing it in the process.

_"Dear Harry,_

_If you are reading this letter, it probably means that I'm no longer alive. Although I'm very sorry for leaving you so young with such a heavy burden to carry, today my apologies are going to go beyond that._

_With this letter, there is a document that I requested to be issued by the Ministry of Magic just after your name came out the Globet of Fire. This is an irrevocable permission which allows Miss Morelli to be aware of the Magical Community and everything related to the Wizarding World. It was a precaution measure I decided to take, just in case she was exposed to magic or needed to be put into hiding as an emergency measure. I didn't inform you, or Sirius about it at the time, as I believed to be the best interest of Miss Morelli's safety, to not be aware of unless it was essential._

_At my request, members of the Order have destroyed the paper evidence of this document at the Ministry. Despite that, this document I'm giving to you still a valid proof of her entitlement to know about our world._

_I'm aware that you two are no longer together, but if I may say so, I was under the impression that you left your emotions to take over your reasoning and didn't give her enough opportunity to tell you her side of the story. That's why I decided to rescue this second envelop – that you might find familiar – and now I'm handling it to you. Though I still maintain my opinion regarding Miss Morelli's safety, the decision power of how you should proceed on this particular aspect is out of my hands now._

_I do trust your judgment and I'm convinced that you're going to use all this information well. I know that keeping all these information from you, wasn't very nice of me, and I'm sorry for doing so. Again, only mistakes from an old fool man who on the eagerness of doing what was best for everyone, end up forgetting that what he considers to be the best, is not necessarily what is most needed._

_A.D."_

Before Harry could reflect about what Dumbledore's last letter to him said, he saw himself trying to find any other clue or instruction of what he should do next, but there was nothing it in neither the envelopes. Sooner he recognized the second one as being the one that Dudley had given to him on the same evening he had left Little Whining on previous summer.

He had never felt so exhausted. If he had got his hands on this letter at any other time, he might have felt curious, sad, angry, or many other things. However, the pain caused by Dumbledore's death was too recent for leaving room for him to feel anything else apart from sorrow and grief.

* * *

It had been more than a month after that night where Dumbledore had left the world of living to pursue what he had previously called to be 'a great adventure'. It also had been more than a month since Harry had read Matthew's letter and had finally realized how unfair he had been judging Annabel without listening to her side of the story on the previous year.

Part of him believed that it was probably for the best that they had broken up one year ago, especially after the recent death of the old headmaster. Because now, he, Ron and Hermione carried alone the burden of being the only ones who knew about Voldemort's Horcruxes. He believed that he couldn't afford to have emotional ties with any girl, and somehow he knew that broken up with Annabel, for a similar reason, would have been much harder than it had been to end the little affair that he had with Ginny on the end of the school year.

But another part of him – the part that still felt a rush through the spine at every moment he thought about her or heard her name – desperately needed to see Annabel, at least once, before the start of his quest. The authorisation that Dumbledore had given allowing him to finally be able to tell her about the Wizarding World, was also an aggravating point on this aspect. After hating the headmaster for being in possession of this authorisation for almost three years and don't hand it to him, Harry was starting to comprehend that the old man was only trying to protect them on his own way.

Harry had always been a target of this war since before he was born. And now he finally knew the reasons, and finally knew what he had to do in order to end this – and he had never been more determined in doing so. But Annabel was a muggle, and therefore a very easy target for Voldemort and his followers. Dumbledore knew that and decided to keep Matthew's letter and the authorisation from Harry's hands. But now that he finally had those two things, he knew that the final word of what to do was finally going to be his.

One week after his return to Little Whinging, he had finally decided that he was going to reveal the truth to her if he had the chance. But unfortunately, she wasn't there. After popping for tea at Mrs Morelli's residence, Harry had learned that she had been offered a sessional contract by the NYC Ballet and that she might not even come back for the United Kingdom during this summer holidays.

"She told them that she had booked tickets to come back home before she signed the contract, but they have a rigorous practising schedule, and she's not sure if she will be able to come…" Her grandmother informed him while they shared a plate of scones with some tea.

Even though he had to agree that it was probably a very good thing that she was far away in a foreigner country, Harry felt like it was like the decision of telling her the truth about the Magical World had once more been taken from his hands. At least he had the comfort that Voldemort power wasn't strong worldwide – _at least at that moment._

It was the previous day from the arranged date that the Order members would come to pick Harry up and put the Dursely's into hiding. The number four Private Drive was a complete chaos; blankets were covering most of the furniture, and there were boxes with all sort of things all over the place. Harry was in the kitchen helping out his aunt to prepare their dinner when they heard the noise of a car parking nearby. Faster than a cat that had just spotted its prey, Petunia opened a small gap through the blinds to spy that unusual movement on their neighbourhood. Harry, on the other hand, ignored the conduct of his Aunt and continued chopping the onions.

"Looks like that _little girlfriend_ of you is back in town..." Petunia said in her usual gossiping voice.

Immediately Harry stopped chopping and rushed to the spot where his Aunt was snooping and for the very first time, he joined her on what he always thought to be a shameful habit that unfortunately, his mother's sister happened to have.

Once he was near the window, Harry could see that the car that had stopped by was a black cab, and the man who was carrying a very young boy while paying the driver was clearly Annabel's father. He immediately recognized Annabel who looked so similar and at the same time, so different from last year; she was running to the front door holding hands with a small blond girl who didn't seem to be any older than ten years old. His heart started beating fast, and he felt an immense urge to leave his relatives house and invade Mrs Morelli's residence and beg the girl's forgiveness.

With the incentive from the adrenaline rush, which was strongly present on his blood strain, he dashed up the stairs in order to get some essential tools that would be required to put his last moment little plan into action.

"Where do you think you are going, boy!? Come back here, those onions won't get chopped by themselves …" Harry heard his aunt complaints once he was almost reaching the top of the stairs.

"Sorry Aunt, but I have some very important unfished business to attend that are far away more important than your onions…" Harry shouted back before lock himself in his bedroom.

Immediately he started searching and gathering the things he needed on his chest of draws; then noticed that his curtains were wide open, which could be a problem if somebody happened to be spying on him. Because of that, he decided to go near the curtains in order to close it, but then he saw her. Annabel was standing in front of her grandmother's house, still holding the little girl's hand, but looking straight to Harry's window room. Their eyes meet for a couple of brief seconds – until someone tapped the teenager girl's shoulders, making her turn around to finally hug her grandmother.

* * *

Annabel had dreaded her visit to Little Whinging since before she entered that plane in JFK airport. The girl dreaded it because she knew deep inside that she didn't have gone off the messy dark-haired boy with emerald green eyes and unfitted second-hand clothes, despite all her claims that she had done so. Face him once more would only confirm that she had failed on moving on from him, and she didn't want to admit that, not even to herself.

Now she was standing in front of grandmother's door accompanied by her young sister, and still, she couldn't avoid the automatic gesture of turning over to look at Harry's room. Her heart started to beat fast when she realised that he was in fact inside his room, though probably completely unaware of her presence. However, an unexpected movement brought him close to the window, and before she had time to turn over his eyes were gazing each other after one year apart.

A wave of contradicted feelings busted inside her – at the same time she was still mad for him not trusting her, she couldn't help but feel an immense urge of hugging him. Harry looked her intensely, and she could almost say in a passionate way. But before she could think anything else, she felt the delicate hands of her father's newest wife tapping her shoulders, making she remember the real reason of her visit to Surrey.

"Grandma! I'm so happy to see you!" She said before giving the old woman a warm long hug.

"My dear girl, you keep growing so fast! All three of you, in fact. Please, come inside. Let's get you all settled before supper."

Annabel was carrying her small bag to the room that she always used sleep every time she was in Little Whinging, when her grandmother stopped her in the hallway.

"I saw who you were looking for, my child, there is no need to deny." The old woman said smiling at her grand-daughter who blushed with her comment.

"Nan… I… don't think he wants…" Annabel answered looking down her feet.

"You think that Harry doesn't want to see you?" The old woman opened her eyes wide in shock. "Don't be silly! He has been asking about you during all summer…"

"Re-really?" Annabel raised her head after hearing those words. "What did he ask?"

"Oh, all sort of things, but especially when you were going to be around again. I think you should go there and talk to him." Dorothy Morelli said pointing towards the Dursely's household.

"_No_!" Annabel said firmly. "I don't think I have time for that… you know that I won't be staying here for long anyway."

"It's up to you. But I think that it wouldn't hurt to give him another chance." The old woman said before guiding the teenager girl up the stairs. "You'll be sharing your room with Emily… maybe you can make sure she has a shower before dinner? I will go and give a hand to your father and Lauren…"

Annabel nodded before enter to her old bedroom. It was everything the same way that it had been last year. She opened one of the draws and found a folded message that Harry had sent her with Hedwig's help last year. She sighed and tried to look once again towards his room, but the curtains were shut now.

"Sis, sis! Guess what?" said a small blond girl who smashed her room door without knocking the door. "Granny told me that we are going to share the same room. Isn't that amazing?"

"Hey little bunny, haven't you learned how to knock?" Annabel said in a pretended angry face, which she quickly replaced with a smile after her sister looked a bit worried.

"I was wondering… maybe you could teach me how to do that thing you do with your hair sometimes…" The girl asked a bit shy.

"Oh, you mean my braised messy bun?"

"Yes, it's that one! Can you teach it to me please?"

"Yeah, why not? Maybe I can teach you after you finish your shower if you go fast…" Annabel said opening a cupboard and getting a towel.

Emily answered her with a silly face.

"You can't send me to have a shower! You are not Dad."

"Come on, do you want to learn how to do your hair or not?" Annabel said crossing her arms.

"Right… you won this time Anna…" The small girl said with a sight before gathering her things and leaving Annabel once again alone in her bedroom.

"Kids…" Annabel sighed to herself before opening another wardrobe in order to get some beddings.

A noise of the door being slowed shut made her turn around to see who possibly could have done that. But no one was there. Firstly she was certain that it had to be related to the wind – certainly, there was a door or a window open somewhere else that had to be related to that – but then she saw the door lock turning on its own.

She panicked. It had to be ghosts! Or worse… it could be one of those creatures that she had seen in horror films. Annabel dodged huddled in the corner of the room; she could almost feel that something was getting near her.

Everything then happened so quickly that she had blinked she would probably have missed it. Firstly she saw Harry's head appear out of nowhere and stay afloat within a foot from the place she was; then before she had time to scream she saw one of his hands appear – also out of nowhere – and it was strongly pressed against her mouth, making scream no longer a valid option for her despair; in the end she saw the 'whole' Harry appear in front of her eyes, that were already widely opened in shock.

"Please, don't scream! It's me, Harry. I was wearing my father's old invisibility cloak, see?" Harry showed her a light cloak that he had on his other hand holding the fabric made from a material she had never seen before. "Can you promise me that you won't scream?"

Unable to speak, Annabel just confirmed with a nod, making Harry release her almost immediately.

"You… your head… your hand…!" She said shaking.

"I swear I didn't want to scare you, but… maybe it was better this way."

Harry guided her to her bed, and sat there with her and waited for her to calm down to answer the questions that would surely come. And for the first time, he would be able to answer all of them.

* * *

"How did you…? What is this cloak…?"

"I promise I will answer all your questions, but I need to start this by telling you that you were right – I'm an idiot; and I had no right of doubt of you when you asked me to trust you. Through the years I had demanded such a blind trust from you, and the only time you asked me to do the same, I failed you. For this, I can only beg you to forgive me."

Annabel sighed stunned. During the whole last year, she had been daydreaming that maybe one day he would send her a letter telling something like that. But he had never sent her any letter…

"Why this sudden change of mind? What happened that made you realize that you had been unfair to me?"

"Well… your friend Matthew wrote me a letter explaining how you had been helping him and all…"

"Matthew! He is going to be in such trouble when we meet again! I told him that he shouldn't meddle in our rows. He shouldn't have done that."

"After what I saw, I think I had the right to know the whole truth. And how you so well pointed out before, that secret wasn't yours for you to tell me."

"But I would be much happier if you had trusted me without the needy of him interfering on my behalf. Oh well, I suppose that kiss, plus Geoffrey's fueling our argument didn't help us very much…"

"No, I guess it didn't." Harry frowned his eyebrow with the mention of Annabel's step-brother. "But I really shouldn't have listened to him; we know how much he hated me…"

"Geoffrey hates everyone; he is an embittered creature who doesn't like anyone apart from himself. He clearly saw an opportunity to make us break up and thought it would probably be very good laugh… the stupid jerk!" Annabel clenched her fist with anger.

They remained seated in silence for a few moments that seemed to be an eternity, until Annabel focused on the cloak, which was still safe on Harry's hands, and decided to take the lead of the conversation.

"So… this cloak? What hell is that?" She asked intrigued.

Harry sighed deeply before start talking.

"Well, how I told you earlier, it's invisibility cloak. It's one of the few things that I own that used to belong to my father."

"An invisibility cloak? You are joking, right?" Annabel said skeptically

Harry decided to not answer her with words. Instead, he covered half of her body with it and pointed to the mirrored wardrobe in front of him. She gasped in shock when she realized that she couldn't see her shoulders or her legs; her head floated in the middle of the room. Immediately she removed the delicate fabric from her body as if it was something radiative. Then she turned to Harry who had a playful smile on his lips and seemed to be really enjoying watching her reaction.

"This… this… this…" Annabel gasped wordlessly.

"This is magic," Harry smirked. "As I'm not allowed to use my wand outside Hogwarts until I'm seventeen, I needed another way to show you some magic. I think that is the only way that you would ever believe me…"

"You… you said… that you… are not allowed… to use your wand…" Annabel repeated the words spoken by him slowly as if trying to digest the information she had just received.

"That's right." Harry agreed. "And now it's time for me to tell you the truth that I being willing to share with you during all those years. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but… I wasn't allowed to do so. But now I can."

Annabel who was still in shock leaned on the wall that was near her bed. She was grateful to be sitting down when he bombarded her with so much new information.

"What I've been keeping from you all these years... is that I'm a wizard."

"Are you a what?" She asked him with her eyes widely opened.

"I'm a wizard. The school I had always attended at the Highlands is a Witchcraft school; both my parents attended that same institution…"

"Wait! Are you telling me that there are more people who got cloaks like that?" for some reason, she found the idea of a large group of people who could be invisible anytime they wanted very scary.

"Oh, no! Invisibility cloaks are actually a very rare magical artefact. But wizards and witches usually use their wand to perform magic…" After that, he handed his own wand for her to have a close look of the artefact. It was the second time he had handed his wand to someone to analyze; after all in the magical world, wands were considered to be a more personal object than a toothbrush.

She stared the object for a while, as trying to understand how it would work.

"What is it a wand made off?"

"It varies… mine has phoenix feather as a core; the wood on mine is from a holly tree."

"Holly... I always liked this name..." Annabel pointed his wand to the window and flicked it.

"_Abracadabra_?" She said unsure, but nothing happened. Harry smiled watching her unsuccessful attempt at doing magic.

"Sorry, but I don't think it will work with you. You are what we wizards call muggle – a person that can't perform magic like we can." He stood his hand in a silent gesture to ask her to give his wand back, which she promptly attended. "I would show you some magic if I could… but as I said I'm not allowed to do anything outside school before I'm seventeen. I had enough trouble for a lifetime when I did it once two summers ago..."

"Was… was it on that day on the park?" She asked.

"Yes… how do you know?" Harry raised an eyebrow intrigued.

"Well… I thought I have seen a light… or a stag coming out your fingers… but I was certain that it couldn't be real. I thought I probably had imagined it…"

It was Harry's turn to be impressed. She had not only been present when he performed the Patronous charm, but she had also seen it being cast. The only explanation for her memory not to be alternated would be because the authorization for her to learn the truth about the magical world existed already at that point.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Harry asked intrigued

"I thought that you'd probably think that I had gone insane." She paused for a moment. "But why are you telling me all those things now? Why now? I'm not your girlfriend anymore, and we haven't been in touch for more than a year. So why did you suddenly decided to share this big secret with me? And why now? After all this time that I basically begged for you to be honest and open up with me…"

"There were laws made by the Ministry of Magic that strictly prohibit me to tell you…"

"Ministry of Magic? Do you have a properly organized government board?" Annabel asked completely baffled.

"Oh yes, we do. Although from what I've heard, organized is not a word that should be used to describe them right now." Harry told her and took a big breath before continue "The thing is, I didn't know until a month ago that a special authorization had been issued given you the right to know about us. And… there is a big problem going on the Magical World at the moment. Very bad things are happening. And they probably are going to get worse. And unfortunately, I'm very involved with the people who are fighting against the ones who are doing those bad things. And well, I needed to warm you. For your own safety, I wanted you to be aware of this."

There was a moment of silence where Harry tried to avoid her eyes. Annabel was so deeply immersed in her own thoughts that she barely noticed it.

"What kind of bad things are you talking about? And why did you got involved in this fight? " She frowned.

"Oh well, those bad wizards don't really like muggles – I mean, non-magical people like you. They think that they are somewhat superiors and many other things that are not true. I know you have been living abroad for a while now, but have you ever checked the UK and nearby countries? If you do you might have noticed that the number of '_strange incidents_' has increased considerably from the last year. Have you heard about that big fire in Manchester two weeks ago? Or about the bridge that collapsed at the Thames? Well, they were all caused by those bad wizards that I told you about!"

"But… I read on the news that the bridge broke because of bad maintenance…"

Harry took out a copy of the Diary Prophet from his pocket and handled for her so she could read the news of that particular incident from the Wizarding perspective with her own eyes. She took the paper from his hands, but something other than the news about the collapsed bridge seemed to have caught her attention.

"The pictures! Look at those pictures! They…" She said with her big eyes wide open.

"Yes, they move. I was shocked the first time I was exposed to Wizarding pictures too." Harry couldn't hide his grim while he saw her discovering the Wizarding World for the very first time.

"This is… this is incredible!" She said turning the pages of the newspaper, looking much more interested in the moving pictures than on the discouraging headlines. "Harry! What is this picture of you doing here?"

Annabel said pointing to a small picture of Harry which was accompanied by the headlines '_Can he really save us all?_'; he rolled his eyes and cursed himself for not choosing a different newspaper from the large pile that he had accumulated near Hedwig's cage. He knew that he had to tell her at least part of his personal life story, but this didn't mean that he was ready to show her just how famous he actually was on the magical world.

"Please, don't take that article seriously. I haven't fully read that one, but I can see that it's full of rubbish." Harry said trying to take the paper from her hands, but she was faster and stood up moving away from his reach. She immediately started walking around the room and read out loud the article, while Harry desperate tried removing the paper from her hands.

" '_Much has been speculated about Mr Potter's importance on this war since it was proved that he had been right about the return of You-Know-Who and his followers…_' War? Who the hell is You-Know-Who, Mr Potter?"

Annabel said with a playful smile on her lips while she watched Harry trying to get the newspaper back from her hands. Unfortunately for her, Harry took advantage of being slightly taller than she was and grabbed the paper with a little more aggression than he had calculated. This made her lose balance, and she ended up following straight to his arms. They were extremely close. Harry saw she closing her eyes and opening her lips, really inviting him to take advantage of their situation; but his mind knew that it was not the right thing to do, while his body was finding it really hard to resist this invitation.

But a noise from someone nocking the door and trying to open the locked door made easier for both of them come back to reality. Harry immediately hid under his cloak and walked to a place where he would be more likely to be out of the way from someone who would eventually enter the room.

"Sis, It's me! Why did you lock the door?" Emily grumbled outside the room.

Annabel who had been watching Harry disappear promptly opened the door letting the young girl in.

"Hey little bunny, sorry for locking the room. Must be the force of habit…"Annabel said apologetically.

The younger girl ignored her and quickly got into the room and threw her dirty clothes on her bed.

"So… the braised messy bun!" Emily looked eager to her sister. "How do we start that?"

"Well, for starters you should have dried hair…" Annabel said pointing out to her sister's wet hair. "I think that Grandma has an old hair drier. Why don't you go and ask her where it is?"

"Sure!" And the girl left the room as quickly as she had got inside.

As soon Annabel closed the door and they were finally alone once again, Harry took off his cloak.

"You didn't need to hide." She said walking near to the spot where he was standing.

"I thought it could have been your father… he didn't seem to like me last time I meet with him."

"Are you scared of my father, Mr Potter?" She smirked. "Anyway, you still have things that you need to answer me, now including why you didn't want me to read that article?"

"That article was full of false assumptions; I would much rather if you heard my own version of the facts, instead of reading that thing."

"Well, my sister will probably be back at any minute now; maybe we could carry on this interesting talk tomorrow?" She teased him.

However, Harry remained serious.

"Bel… I'll be leaving Private Drive for good tomorrow. I might never come back to this neighbourhood ever again. As you've read, right now my people are in the middle of a war and I'll be fighting it. _I'm a target_; I have always been a target, and until this is over, I always will be. After tonight, we might never see each other again. I hoped that I would be able to let you know who I am before I leave, but…"

Harry approached Annabel and touched her hair tenderly. For the first time since he had revealed himself to her, she felt a bit of weight that he had been carrying "…but if I can't do that, at least I want you to keep this."

Harry said unfolding the very same piece of jewellery that he had given to her on the first and only Christmas that they had spent together at her place in London. She had given it back to him after their row last year.

"As you know, my father gave it to my mother on their first wedding anniversary. I don't have many family heirlooms, but I like to think that my parents would approve my wish of giving this to you."

She delicately touched his forehead with both of her hands and leaned toward what she hoped would become a passionate kiss, but he turned his face avoiding their lips to touch.

"As much as my body craves for your kisses – _which seem to have the power of turn my head upside down_ – it's not because of them that I came here today. I came because I needed you to know, but I also need you to promise me…"

"Promise you what?"

"Please, promise me that you'll stay away from the UK. Please, promise me that you'll stay away from Europe. It's not safe here. _Please_, promise me that you are going to be alert if you heard about any strange deaths, or if you hear news about some strange catastrophes. It might be a sign that they are near you! Perhaps they could be even after you…"

"Why would someone be after me?" She asked completely puzzled.

"Please, just promise me! If you see strange things happening around you, don't think twice – run away; go to a small town where nobody knows you; use another name; try being discrete; even change your appearance if its necessary!" He said these last phrases with such a despair, that she felt really scared. Could she be in danger as he claimed?

"Harry, who would…"

"Please, just promise to me…" he pled with all his soul, looking deep into her eyes.

"I promise…"

Before she could finish her sentence, a noise of loud steps approaching her door made both of them turn to look at it. Seconds after that, the girl responsible for the noise busted inside the room leaving a widely open the door behind her.

"I've got the hairdryer!" Emily raised the equipment as it was a trophy.

Annabel turned around trying to see Harry, but he seemed to have disappeared once again, this time, without her noticing it. She was still shaking with shock after the newest revelations that Harry had shared with her. Perhaps if Emily were a sensitive person, she would have noticed that her big sister wasn't really on the mood for teaching her new ways of styling her hair, but unfortunately, that wasn't one of Emily's various gifts.

Before Annabel could realize, Harry left her room and walked back to number four without looking back.

* * *

The dinner at Grandma Morelli had been nice as usual - a nice variety of the best of Italian cuisine followed by what Annabel was certain to be the best apple crumble in the world. It was half-past nine and Annabel was on her grandmother living room with her father, his wife Lauren and her Grandmother who were all engaged in a very nice chat up after their meal. Annabel was the only in the room who seemed not to be following their conversation. Instead, she was deeply focused in try to catch a glimpse of Harry on the limited view she had from the number four.

"Stop glaring at the neighbour's house! You will get a neck ache if you carry on doing this, _va bene_?" Her father told her clearly calling her attention.

"Let the poor girl in peace, Lucca!" Her Grandmother came on her defence. "As I was saying, I'm so happy for having all my three Grandchildren around me today! It's a shame you and Emily won't be able to stay very long..."

"I agree, Nan." Annabel nodded "I really wish I could stay longer, it's very unfortunate that I could only stay in the country for five days. And I need to go to London to see Mum and a couple of friends... but Emily doesn't need to go with me, she can stay here if she wants."

"It's a shame that Emily's _Mama_ doesn't let her stay with us a bit longer..." Lucca complained.

"I think it's only natural they have lots to sort out... after all, Emy is going to be starting her Secondary School in another state isn't she?" Annabel pointed out.

"I don't know why you decided to put her in a private school! State Schools are just as good..." Lauren argued with her husband.

"Anyway, I think I'm feeling a bit jet-lagged... Goodnight for you who are staying, but I'm off to bed." Annabel told them after trying to catch another glimpse of the number four.

"But does feel like it is earlier for us!" Lauren said looking at her watch. "It's less than six PM for you..."

"Still... somehow I do feel very tired. Goodnight everyone." Annabel said before leaving the adults alone in the living room.

Bel was glad to find her sister already in a deep sleep when she arrived at their room. Annabel actually had lied when she told them that she was feeling tired. The truth is that she couldn't stop thinking of the meeting that she had with Harry previously on that day - or that she thought she had. It had been so fast and everything that had happened and the things he said... everything was so... unbelievable. She still didn't know for sure if their meeting had happened or if it had been nothing but something created by her own mind. She walked to her bedroom window, where she knew she would have a nice view from his own bedroom. For her disappointment, he wasn't looking back; he seemed very absorbed writing a letter.

It was when she saw the locker he had previously given to her carefully placed on her bedside table. There was when she knew that his earlier visit couldn't have been a complete hallucination. Harry had been there… and he had given her back his mother old chain. '_Maybe everything that he said was real then; maybe he is really involved in a magical war._', she thought while she was putting on her chain.

Then she remembered his urge in making her promise to '_run away_' if she noticed strange things happening around her or to the ones near to her. She felt scared; if he was right, and he was somehow getting himself involved in a war, she felt like it was her duty to avoid him to do it. Besides, she couldn't bear the thought that on their last meeting, she didn't even have got to say a proper goodbye to him. She had to go there and see him – and she needed to do it _now._

After fixing her image on her mirror, she walked down the stairs without making any noise and managed to sneak out her Grandmother's house by the kitchen back door without being noticed by any of her relatives, who were still talking loudly at the living room. Invading the Dursely's house was much easier than she had anticipated, as they had left their kitchen door completely unlocked. When she walked up the stairs, she could vaguely notice the three members of the Dursley clan, watching a comedy show so fixated, that they didn't even turn to look at her when one of the steps cracked as she went up.

Harry's room door was shut, but she could see the gap under the door that his light was still on. With her heart beating fast she knocked on his door and opened it after hearing him say that she could come in. He looked very surprised by finding her, and not his Aunt waiting on his doorway.

"Bel…? How did you convince them to let you in at this time of the night?"

She didn't answer him immediately, as her attention had been caught by the large numbers of unusual objects that she had never seen in his room before. There was a caldron on the floor filled with old looking books on it – she noticed that some of them also had moving pictures. A big shinning broom, that didn't seem to be used for cleaning purposes had taken over his desk; vials with lots of weird looking contains were piled in a corner of the room; his bed was full of dark robes contrasted by some scarlet red with gold ones; next to Hedwig empty cage, there was a pile of old newspapers with moving pictures. Annabel then concluded that Harry's earlier visit couldn't have been a hallucination after all.

"I… sneaked in like you did today." She said closing his door very quietly. "So, is it true then? You are a wizard?"

"Er… yes. I thought you had no doubts that I was telling you the truth before…"

"Well, I didn't think that you were lying, it was more like 'I thought that I was having hallucinations'" She was hovering her hand above Harry's Firebolt when the broom magically went a few centimetres up, staying very close to her fingers. "Oh my Lord! _Don't tell me you can fly on that_!"

Harry smirked and grabbed the broom putting it gently down on the floor next to his cauldron.

"Actually I can. My Firebolt doesn't like to stay away from the air for such a long time. In fact, I think it's trying to invite you for a hide, though I'm afraid that we are not allowed to do it today."

"It's… so unreal!" She said examining a Frog Chocolate cards who were moving and blinking to her.

"Yes, it does take a while to get used to those things…" He said getting near her once more. "I won't deny that I'm very happy to see you, but – why did you come here tonight?"

"How could I not come?" She asked him disbelieved "Even though I wasn't sure if most that had happened earlier was a trick from my crazy mind, you mentioned something about getting involved in a war. I can't let you do that!" She then touched his face with both of her hands and looked straight into his eyes. "You… you mentioned that America is a safer place to be than here. Why don't you go there with me then? I can buy you a plane ticket; you can fly back to New York with me... my Mother paid one year ahead of rent on the flat I'm living, so you can stay there with me; maybe you could get a part-time job somewhere… we would be together."

Harry pulled her into a tight hug as he felt the love and concern behind her words. For a moment he allowed himself to daydream about how their life would be if he accepted her proposal. He living with her as a muggle in New York, leaving the collapsing Magical World behind him. But he knew that it wasn't an option. Voldemort would carry on chasing him wherever he decided to go; doing that would only make him put her at a higher risk.

Besides, he wanted his revenge; he wanted to make Voldemort pay for all the suffering he had caused. For his parents, for Sirius, for Dumbledore's death and many others. He was one of the few who knew about the Horcruxes, without mentioning the powers he gained and the connection he shared with the Dark Lord after being marked as his equal.

"It's not as simple as it seems…" Harry said it in an almost whisper, with his arms still placed around her body.

"Why can't it be simple?" She asked getting even near him. "Which secrets are you still keeping from me, Harry?"

Harry sighed and walked a step back, held her hand and invited her to sit down on his bed.

"It's time for me to tell you the story of my life. It all started when I was a baby living with my parents who were part of a resistance group that fought against a certain wizard who called himself Lord Voldemort…"

And then he finally told her. It took long hours for him to tell her, but he did tell her everything. He told her how Voldemort had heard a prophecy and believed it to be talking about him; he told her about how his parents got murdered; how he had been sent to live with the Dursely's; how he had finally learned that he was a wizard on his eleventh birthday; he told her about some of his adventures at Hogwarts; how he had found out that Sirius was innocent; how his name ended up going on the Goblet of Fire and how it had been an architected plan e by Voldemort and one of his old followers in order to recover his body; how the Ministry of Magic thought that he had been lying about it all this time. He told her about Umbridge and Dumbledore's Arm; he told her how Sirius had been murdered by his evil cousin, and why he had felt guilty about that episode.

But he ended up keeping a few things from her. He never mentioned that he knew about the true content of the prophecy, neither had he told her about anything discussed at the private lessons' he had with Professor Dumbledore. But he did let her know that Snape had killed Dumbledore, and why everything was so uncertain now that the old headmaster was gone.

"So was Professor Dumbledore the only one who this Valtermort was scared off? Are you sure there is no other powerful wizard around that could be a match for him?"

"No… everybody always said that Dumbledore has always been the one who intimidated Voldemort."

"So that's why you said that those '_bad wizards_', might try to get me isn't? You fear that they might use me in the same way they used Sirius to get you on that Ministry's Prophecy Room…"

"Yes. That's pretty much it." Harry said stroking her hair; at that time, she was laying down on his chest. All his school robes that had been on his bed, were now laying on the floor.

"That's why you don't want to run away with me, right? That bastard will never leave you in peace."

"He will once I find a way to destroy him; but before this happens, I can't see any future for us together."

Annabel turned over and placed herself on top of him, looking straight into his eyes. Their faces were very close; she could hear his heartbeat.

"I always knew that you were a special guy, Harry. But everything you told me here is more than I ever could imagine. I really…"

But she never finished her sentence. Instead, she claimed his mouth into a desperate kiss. This time, instead of avoiding her touch, he responded eagerly to taste her lips for the last time. He began stroking her hair and caressing the back of her neck with passion, but at the same time with a contained respect. However, she took one of his hands and I slid it to the bottom of her skirt, and left it there, touching her skin. He couldn't stop advancing the level of foreplay. There was an urge of despair hiding in every single touch, every single breath they took. It was love and passion combined with the fear of never seeing each other again. It was their teenager hormones kicking and begging for them to answer the Mother Nature call.

It was only when he felt her hands trying to get rid of his trousers that he realized what they were about to do.

"Bel, we shouldn't do it…" He said suddenly moving away from her.

"Why do you think that? Of course we should!" She said trying to get back on top of him, but he stopped her.

"You heard what I told you. I'm a target in a war. I might die anytime…"

"This is one more reason why we should do it!"

"As I'm not allowed to use my wand I can't cast the contraception spell, and I don't have any contraception potion with me…"

She didn't answer him with words; instead she got a small square from her jacket that was on the floor with the rest of his clothes and gave it to him.

"Happy now, Mr Potter?"

"Condoms don't work well with wizards." He said with a sad face.

"Don't worry about wearing it then... I'm also on the pill."

Harry was trying to remember if Sirius had said something about muggle contraception pills when Annabel decided to take advantage of his distraction and managed to unzipped his jean's fly and started doing something that made Harry forget not only his concerns but also what his name was.

* * *

Harry collapsed on top of her, where both were trying caught their breaths. She gave him a soft kiss on his scar and guided him to lay beside her, where they remained to share the one pillow available on his single bed.

"So…"

"So…"

"This was hot."

"Amazingly hot!"

They remained in silence for a while, enjoying their first cuddle after sex experience. He was clearly feeling more tired than she was, she thought that it was probably due to the fact that her body was still used to a different time zone.

"When today started I never thought that we would end up finishing this day like this…" He said stroking her naked back.

"And we didn't. Look at the time!" She said pointing to his bedside table alarm clock. "We are _starting_ the day like this."

"I don't know how my relatives did not wake up."

"Me neither. We were quite noisy towards the end…"

"I hope I haven't performed an accidental Silence Charm. The last thing I would need now is having to explain myself to the Ministry."

"Can you do that? Cast a spell without knowing you are doing it?"

"Oh yes, of course we can! Especially young kids, who haven't learned how to control their powers yet; but even adults can do it if they are put under strong emotional tension…." He said thoughtfully "I'm actually very surprised for containing myself so well tonight. I don't think I've done magic… I think the Ministry owls would be here by now if that was the case anyway…"

"Hmmm… that must be sexy." She said biting her lip

"What?"

"Having sex with someone doing magic…"

Harry raised one eyebrow after hearing that comment.

"I'll remember that for whenever we have another opportunity to get together like this again." He gave her a cheeky smile.

And they carried on snugging and spooning on that blessed first and last night they've spent together before the big storm. It didn't take long for them to sleep the sleep of the well.

* * *

Harry woke up, but he didn't want to open his eyes. He had such an amazing dream that facing the dull world was the least of the things he wanted to do. But when he realized that his body was pressuring something that definitely wasn't his bedclothes, he couldn't help the urge to open his eyes. What was his surprise when he saw Annabel sleeping completely naked, spooning with him. He couldn't help but smile. It wasn't a dream.

He sat on the edge of the bed contemplating the beauty of the naked girl for a couple of moments. How he wished that morning never ended! He gently covered her body before he headed to the kitchen in order to make them some breakfast.

Lucky, Petunia hadn't woke yet, and he knew that as long he made everything quickly enough and cleaned everything once their breakfast was done, maybe he would be able to avoid her questions. After trying to replicate the breakfast that he saw she had at her mother's house years before, Harry arranged everything in a wooden tray and placed along it a single pink rose that he picked in his Aunt garden.

When he returned to the room, he noticed that Annabel was still immersed in a deep sleep. After wondering for a while if he should wake her up or not, he ended up deciding that as the breakfast he had made wouldn't taste nice if cold. So he climbed back into his bed and tried to wake her up on the best way he could think of. She quickly responded to his touch, turning everything into another making out session. She was still completely naked, and Harry felt that he was getting hard again as he rubbed his body against hers, but he decided that it probably could wait until after they had breakfast.

"Good morning my princess," Harry said breaking their embrace. "I hope you are in the mood for some breakfast?"

He said pointing to the tray that had been squeezed to fit on his desk who was full of his magical belongs.

"Oh Harry, it's so sweet! I can't believe you made this for me!" She bent down to get some clothes that were lying on the floor; as she couldn't spot any of her own clothes in the middle of such a mess, she ended up choosing one of the jumpers that had been made to Harry by Mrs Weasley. Harry couldn't help think that despite it be the completely wrong size for the girl's shape, the sight of she wearing nothing but his old jumper was very damn sexy.

"That's all right. I don't think it is as good as your scrambled egg, but I hope it's decent enough…" He said placing the tray on his bed.

"Er… to be honest with you, I'm not very hungry Harry. Though I wouldn't say no to a coffee."

"Coffee? Sorry, I thought you would prefer tea…" he said pointing to the two mugs he had brought upstairs.

"That's good enough. Both have no sugar, right?"

He nodded and she said grabbing the mug which was nearest to her.

"Though Harry, I must inform you for future reference, that now I always have a long black first thing in the morning. New York has changed me, see?"

"Shame on you! You are betraying your own roots now, Bel? What is it going to come next? Please, don't tell me that now you're also having pancakes for breakfast!" He said in a playful mocking voice.

"Pancakes are actually really nice…"

"Now I'm genuinely surprised you weren't wearing American flag knickers last night…" he smirked making her blush.

"Oh, shut up!" She said throwing a pillow at his face. "You need to try it yourself before you start judging me for liking it! When you go to New York, I will take you to a breakfast cafe we have near my place… it's one of the best in Manhattan. I go there every other week with my friends…"

"It's a date then! Whenever this war is over, it's going to be your duty to take me there."

Annabel's face went sadly after he mentioned the war.

"I know that this Valdemort…"

"Voldemort…"

"Whatever... I know you say that he won't stop trying to kill you. But…" She looked down; the idea of a Dark Wizard who was trying to murder Harry was too painful for her to bare. "But… wouldn't be possible for you to make a deal with him? Or for you to use some magic that you could use to hide us, like your cloak…"

Harry gently lift her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"I know that it's hard for you to understand this war as you are not part of the Magical World, but those things you mentioned are not an option. There is no way I would make any kind of deal with the murder of my parents Bel. You must understand why this would be impossible; I also refuse to be hiding way with my arms crossed, watching people die and doing nothing to destroy him; waiting until he finally finds me. I'm sure that you know deep inside that neither of these is options for me."

"I… I understand. But it hurts so much knowing that you might… that I might never see you again!" She said just before a single tear to cut her face.

"_Please, don't do that_…" He said pulling her into a hug. "It's hard enough for me to say goodbye to you without having you looking sad like this…"

They remained in silence for a long moment, Harry hoping that he could make her smile again before the time of their real 'goodbye' arrived, while Annabel was trying to find some strength inside herself to give him the support that she knew that he so much needed. It was when she had an idea. She took off the silver bracelet that she was wearing and showed to him.

"Harry… I've had this since I'm a little girl. You must have seen me wearing this before; it belonged to my Mum's twin sister; she died on the gas…"

"…On the gas leaking that killed your mother's family." Harry cut her off.

"How do you know it?" She didn't remember having told him anything about that.

"Do you remember when I told you that Sirius's house is not far from your family house in London? Well, he happened to be a friend of your dead Uncle. Sirius told me what actually happened with him and the rest of your Mother's family…"

And Harry told her the same story that Sirius had told him years before, with all details that he could remember about it.

"This is… almost more unbelievable than the rest of your story! I can't believe that those Death Beasts were the responsible for my mother's parent's death…"

"Killing and torturing muggles for sport is one of the things that the Death Eaters are famous for. Sometimes they do pick their victims randomly, but sometimes they also like to pick the family or friends from those that are against him. My mother's parents were also killed this way." Harry told her seriously.

"That's why you told me to run away if I felt that something strange was happening around me…" Annabel looked back to him gobsmacked.

"Yes. The Order seems to be very confident that they have no idea about our connection. But you must promise me that if you suspect that something is going on…"

"I will run. Don't worry."

"Those bad wizards… they tend to be ignorant about non-magical technology; use that in your favour if you ever need."

"Thank you for share this particular event involving my family with me, Harry. Now, more than ever I want you to keep this." She said pointing to the bracelet that she was still holding in the palm of her hand." I want you to carry it with you and return it to me once all this is over. It's for you to remember that you have a bigger reason to survive this war; if not for you, please, come back for me." She said doing her best to keep a cool expression while she said those words.

Harry received the bracelet and kissed her forehead. He carefully put it inside the fake Slytherin locket that he was carrying around his neck.

"I will treasure it. I promise that it will get it back to you once all this mess is over. But I can't allow you to stay here waiting for it to happen. I don't know how long it will take us to defeat him; it might take years, decades even. It would be unreasonable of me to expect you to be waiting for me."

"It's not up to you to decide if I should wait for you or not. It's my choice and I already made it. No matter how long it takes, I promise that I will be here for you."

She looked more determined than he had ever seen. The girl that once had feared the simple idea of commitment more than anything else, was now promising to wait for him for 'God knows how long'. Harry couldn't deny that her new attitude regarding them really warmed his heart.

"I'm going to respect your choice, and I will try my best to come back to you in less than ten years time. But there is one thing that I won't be able to do, and it's to be in touch with you. There is no way I can risk sending you letters this time. The risk of them being intercepted and bring you more harm than good is too high to take." Harry said seriously.

"Well, we stayed together for a whole year without exchanging letters and our relationship survived that without me even knowing the reason behind that. Now that I know it, I don't see how it can affect us."

"I'm loving your new way of referring to '_us_', Annabell," Harry said bringing her head near to his.

"Well, I've learned on the hard way last year. I can try very hard to get over you… I can date every single guy in New York City, but it will be completely pointless because none of them is you. I don't know which kind of love spell you threw on me, my wizard, but it hit me hard!"

After that declaration, Harry could no longer resist and started kissing her lips with passion, which she corresponded with the same intensity.

"I love you my ballerina, my beautiful muggle girl…" He whispered in her ear making her squirming.

"I love you too my wizard." She said just after she moved into a position where she hugged his waist with her legs.

The things between them were about starting to get out of control once more when the noise coming from the corridor announced that at least some of Harry's relatives were also waking up.

"You need to go… I need to finish packing and your family will notice that you didn't sleep at your Nan's if they don't see you there when they wake up. Come on, I will take you home. Let me get my cloak..."


	12. A bump road

"Here is your sparkling water Miss. Is there anything else that I can get you before the take-off? Any magazine? Newspapers?"

"No thank you, the water is all I need"

Annabel answered one of the flight attendants who was working at the business class of her return flight to New York. The flight seemed to be completely full, however, nobody had claimed the seat just next to her. Not until the last passenger to board the plane arrived and throw his white leather jacket on the aisle seat just next to where she was.

"Hello, Bel. I hope you haven't missed me too much" Geoffrey gave her a grin and started to place his hand luggage in its designated place.

"What hell are you doing here?" She asked him completely gobsmacked.

"Same as you, I guess. Getting on a flight to New York. Free country, public plane... so yeah, I guess you are stuck with me here"

"But... it is middle of the term! Are you not supposed to be making a hell for the young kids in that posh private school that you attend?"

"Well, that... I was expelled. Yes, Father was not very pleased, I must say. But he encouraged me to follow my dreams, so... I am here, on this public plane going to New York"

Annabel looked around waiting for someone to appear and say that this was all a bad joke. Instead, the flight attendant arrived bringing Geoffrey a glass of champagne.

"Please, don't tell me that you are going to share _my flat_ with me," She said in a panicked voice.

"Oh Bel, come on. You didn't really believe that they gave you a two bedroom flat in Manhattan only for yourself, did you?!" Geoffrey grinned.

"_Oh God!_ This might be your dream, but it is quickly turning into my nightmare! What hell are you going to New York for anyway?"

"Well... there are many things for me in New York. Shall I make you a list?"

"Well, do I have any choice, but to put up with you? Well, go on. Enlight me. What is in New York for you?"

"There is a photography course that I really would like to attend for starts..."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that you can find plenty of outstanding photography courses at London..."

"There is also the obvious things... like riding a bicycle at the central park every morning"

"Since when do you like cycling?"

"Well, but the main thing is..." He said completely ignoring her question. "There is this girl there... who I have felt very hard for..."

Annabel rolled her eyes.

"_A girl_? What a mad woman she must be. To pull up with all your nonsense, she must be quite insane"

"Well... she is also very blind. I don't think she can see a palm in front of her eyes"

"To be dating you? I agree. She must be the blindest girl on the planet"

"Well... I'm glad to see that we both agree at least with something" Geoffrey said as finished his drink.

She looked at the plane window and saw the plane leaving the ground. She sighed. This was going to be a very long flight.

* * *

More than three months had passed since the last time Annabel had said goodbye to Harry at Little Whinging. True to his word, no owl had reacted her this time. She didn't even know if he was dead or alive. However, she believed that the fact that wizards had not taken over the world seemed to be a good sign, and she tried to carry out her life as if she knew nothing about wizards, wands or magical wars.

She was on the corpus of the ballet of Romeo and Juliet during the autumn season, and now she was hoping to do an audition to grab a bigger part at their winter play. However, a comment from one of her colleagues during Annabel's birthday party gathering had really put her in a bad moody.

"You are growing a bit of a_ bump_ there Anna, aren't you?" The girl said in a mocking tone when they were out celebrating Annabel's eighteen birthday.

Yes, she was gaining weight. _Of course, she knew it_. What she couldn't possibly explain was_ how_ she was gaining this weight. She spent hours and hours looking at her slender figure when she was doing bar exercises or rehearsing for a play. _She noticed_. The scale at her bathroom also confirmed what already knew. She carefully counted all her calories intake every single day for years now. She always had ensured to give her body the right nutrients in what she knew to be a balanced diet. But now she was gaining weight, and she couldn't really explain how she had ended up doing this.

Truth be told, she had felt much more hungry these last couple of months than she usually did. However, she had purged after some of these instances, and in others, she had felt genuinely sick afterwards. For this reason, she was actually kind of glad for her sometimes present morning sickness. But she still couldn't pinpoint why this was happening.

But despite all her efforts to maintain her petite figure, she was still gaining weight. So she decided to take a very risky behaviour. She knew it was wrong. She knew that it was dangerous but after her colleague words, she felt like she should take drastic measures. She had heard of the one apple a day diet from her from a friend who had seriously struggled with anorexia, and she decided that was a thing worth trying. She carefully sliced an apple and divided it into six parts. She ate the first part and sprinkled some lime on the rest which she saved the other bits for her to have throughout the day. But she was feeling so sick and dizzy, that she doubted that she would manage to make it to the end of the day eating like that. And indeed, that was the case. When they were finishing the warming up exercises at the bar, _she passed out._

* * *

The first sense Annabel recovered was her hearing.

"The ambulance is here" She heard a familiar voice that she couldn't fully recognise to say.

"We need to call her next kin," Someone else said.

The next thing she noticed was when she felt her body being transferred to the ambulance stretcher. She opened her eyes and only then realised that someone had placed an oxygen mask on her nose.

"She is conscious" She heard one of the members of the ambulance crew saying.

"You fainted and had a concussion. We need to take you to the hospital to make sure you are doing ok"

Annabel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _'Great! That is everything I don't need. I knew that eating nothing but one apple for an entire day was a stupid idea..._' she thought while she let the ambulance crew do their work.

They did a large number of tests inside the ambulance, but also at the hospital. They collected her blood, taken her pressure, she was even requested to do a CT scan of her brain in order to check for some possible internal bleeding. They gave her some intravenous medicine, which she cringed at the thought of how many calories would probably be on that bag of fluids, but she accepted the medicine anyway. A nurse also had given her some stitches on her head, as she had some bleeding on her scalp. She was given a hospital gown and a bed in a cubicle while she waited for the results impatiently. She was starting wonder if it was possible to die of boredom when a nurse entered her cubicle with a jug of water and a paper cup.

"Drink water, do scan," She said with a strong foreigner accent.

"_What?_ Do I need to do_ another scan_?" Annabel sighed in frustration but did drink the water as the nurse had instructed.

Not much longer after that, the nurse came back with a wheelchair and asked her to sit down. At this point, Annabel was starting to get anxious, wondering if this following up exam meant that something abnormal had been found on her previous exam. However, that exam room was very different from the previous one. She was asked to lay down on the bed and they gave her some sheet for her to cover her crotch while they scanned her pelvis. Annabel was about to ask them what sort of exam was that when they placed a cold gel on her abdomen and started to rub a circular object at the surface of her body.

"Look, mommy, your baby is moving" The man doing her scan exam pointed to the screen.

Annabel felt her jaw drop when she looked at the scream and saw the fully formed fetus on it. She felt her heartbeat increase and her hands started to tremble.

"I know, it can be very emotional to look at them, isn't? Let me run the checkup to ensure that your little girl is doing all right"

"Little girl?" Annabel said feeling tears coming down her face.

"Oops, I shouldn't have said that. Sorry, darling. Did you want it to be a surprise?"

Annabel didn't answer him. He did not ask her again and carried out the examination without making any further comments. Her eyes seemed to have been glued to the monitor screen. _Pregnant? Was she really pregnant? How was this even possible! She was on the pill! She only had one sexual intercourse in her entire life. How was this happening? She was only eighteen! She had no idea where Harry was. But she knew that he was a target in a magical war. She had no way to contact him. All she could do on this department was hope that he lived. And how about the ballet? How was she supposed to carry on with her ballet career now?  
_

"Do you want it or not darling?" The man doing the scan asked her.

"Sorry, I don't think I heard you. What did you ask me?"

"Do you want to hear baby's heartbeat?"

"Oh no. Thanks. I think I'm fine"

"I'm just going to print you some pictures and then we are done"

"Pictures?"

"Yes, pictures. So you can show her Dad"

"I don't..." But she didn't carry on her sentence, and before she could have any saying on it, the man was shoving a baby scan picture on her hands and sending her off to her cubicle for her to wait until she could see the duty doctor responsible for her case.

* * *

"Bel! I came as soon as I could! What happened? Are you all right?"

Annabel heard Geoffrey enter on her hospital cubicle, but she couldn't find any strength to acknowledge his presence. She just remained catatonic - looking ahead and not moving one single muscle of her body.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You didn't even ask me to bugger off yet, and I'm sure that more than ten seconds have passed since I arrived here!"

Annabel slowly turned her head to see him, but she still remained in complete silence.

Geoffrey then entered her cubicle and decided to sit on the edge of her bed. She didn't protest. He stayed there in silence observing her, as trying to find a cue of what was going on with her. Then was when he found the ultrasound picture just next to her. He grabbed it without her noticing what he was doing.

"Bel, what is this? You are not...? You are, aren't you? I mean... are you pregnant?"

This made Annabel woke up straightway from her trance. She turned to face him, white as a ghost.

"Please Geoffrey, don't tell anyone. Please don't tell Mum. _She is going to kill me!_"

"_Bloody hell, you really are!_"

"I know, right? You don't need to criticize me. I _swear_ I did everything right! I don't know why it didn't work..."

"I'm not criticizing you. I just... who is it from?"

"What do you mean by _who is it from?_ _You know who is it from!_" She said looking offended.

"It is from the _Scarface_, isn't? _It is always him!_"

"Don't call him that!"

"Are you going to tell him?"

"_I... I can't_..."

"Why? You know that he is not going to help you out...?"

"No! Not because of that... it is just... _it is complicated_..."

Geoffrey stayed silent with Annabel for a while. He held her hand but only spoke again when a thought came to his head.

"You don't need to keep_ it_, do you know that?"

"_What?_"

"I mean that you can have a termination if you want. I mean... this is New York, right? Forward-thinking people live here. Their laws about abortion can't be too much different from England..."

"_Abortion_..."

"Yes... it is a good option for you, isn't? I mean... you don't need to stop your ballet career, nobody needs to know about this. I can help you if you need"

"I... I... I don't know Geoffrey. I mean... I'm all pro-woman right to decide and everything, but... I'm not sure if I can... I'm not sure if I want... I mean... I'm so lost!" Annabel burst into tears, and Geoffrey patted her shoulders gently.

It was at that moment that a doctor entered the room with some medical folders on his hand. Geoffrey nodded to him to acknowledge his presence and the doctor starts to say.

"Can you please confirm me your name, Miss?"

"Annabel Dorothy Morelli"

"Date of birth?"

"02/11/1979"

"Right. So you fainted and had a concussion, right? All the exams results came back fine, so I'm happy to send you home. However, I need you to avoid any physical activity for at least two weeks.

"_Two entire weeks_?" She repeated feeling very frustrated.

"Yes. I also want you to keep an eye on some symptoms. If you feel any dizziness, or sickness I want to you come back in. I know that these symptoms can also be normal during pregnancy, but I need to make sure you don't develop anything more serious"

"Doctor, about the pregnancy... she is considering termination. What is the procedure here in this country for this?"

"I can referer you for it. They should contact you today or tomorrow offering you an appointment. But I must warn you that you are already very far on the pregnancy... _14 weeks_, according to the scan? They will have to be induced to a premature labour if you decide to go down this route"

Annabel didn't answer him. She just looked white as a piece of paper.

"So... you are free to go home"

The doctor then shook Geoffrey's hand and stood his hand to also shake Annabel's hand, but she did not move. He then just gave her a quick wave and let Annabel and Geoffrey alone in her cubicle.

"Let's get you out of here Bel. I'm taking you out for lunch. I won't accept no for an answer. You look like you need it!"

* * *

Annabel was looking at her own reflection in her room' mirror. She was caressing the almost imperceptible bump that now she knew to be a small fetus that was insistently growing stronger every day inside her for the past four months. The image of the scan seemed to have been glued behind her eyeballs. Geoffrey had been quick to book her an appointment so she could do the termination. She had not said anything against it, but she had also not explicitly agreed to go through with that procedure. Was she strong enough to do it? Was she strong enough to not do it? Both sides had so many implications, that she couldn't help but list in her head the reasons why she should or shouldn't terminate her pregnancy.

Among the reasons to do the termination were things like '_I'm still very young and I can have other children another day when I am ready for them', 'Mum is going to kill me', 'Dad is going to kill me even harder', 'It will be almost impossible to become a professional balleirina with a young baby', 'I have no idea how to take care of a baby', 'I'm not sure if I can do this on my own', 'If there is really a magical war happening and Harry is a target, this baby might also become a target'_. However, the reason's she had to keep the baby was also very big: _'If Harry dies on that war I will never have another chance to have a child with him', 'and she might have Harry's eyes', 'and she might have his smile', 'and sense of humor', 'and she might end up doing something very important one day', 'And Mum and Dad also had me when they were very young, so maybe they will understand'._

"Anna, we need to go," Geoffrey said after knocking on her door._  
_

Annabel took a deep breath, trying to find some courage to inform Geoffrey about the decision that she had already made. She slowly opened her door and saw him waiting for her patiently in the doorway.

"I can't believe that you are still wearing pyjamas, Bel. Come on, we need to hurry or we are going to miss that appointment"

"I... I'm not going, Geoffrey"

"_What?_"

"I... I just can't do it" She tried to force herself to look him in the eye.

"Of course you can. Come on, I will help you out. I will stay with you during the whole process if you want me to"

"No. I don't want you to go with me..."

"Do you... do you prefer to do this on your own...?"

"What I mean to say is... I don't really wanna do this at all. I want to keep _her_, Geoffrey. I... I want to have my baby.

Geoffrey opened his eyes widely in shock with this new revelation.

"Are you sure about that? You heard what the doctor said... you are already quite far advanced... it is only going to get harder and harder to do this if you change your mind"

"I know, but... I don't think I will change my mind"

"Are you really sure? This kid... she is going to change your life forever, you know that, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. I guess... I guess that I will have to come to terms with the fact that my life has already changed then"

Geoffrey gave a long defeated sigh.

"So... I guess that you are keeping her for real then, right? Are you sure you don't want to consider giving her up to adoption...?"

"Geoffrey! I'm not giving mine and Harry's baby to adoption!"

"_Right, right, right_" He raised both his hands asking for peace. "I was just checking... you know. I didn't mean to offend you or anything!"

"Well... I know that for some people this might be the only option, but... it is not for me. I will raise her... with or without Harry,"

"Wow, you are really committed to this, aren't you?"

"Yeah... I guess I am..." She was still not sure how she was going to cope with all this, but she was determined to at least to give it a go. For Harry. For their love. And for their unborn baby girl.

"Well... I guess... I guess this means that I will have to come around with this idea as well" Geoffrey said more to himself than to her.

"What do mean?"

"I mean... what I mean, is that you can count on me to help you with anything you need during your pregnancy... and afterwards as well. I will... I will help you unconditionally. I will do anything I can... for both of you. Always"

"I... I don't even know what say, Geoffrey" Annabel left a tear drop fall from her eye, and then she hugged him tightly "This really means a lot..."

He hugged her back and caressed her hair for longer than it was probably appropriate.

"Right. Let's go out. I want to see a smile on your beautiful face, Bel. Let's go celebrate this by buying the most beautiful little dresses for this little princess that you are carrying"

Annabel dried her puffy eyes and decided to accept the help of her step-brother.

"Sure. Let me change my clothes and we will go, ok?"

* * *

A few months had passed since Annabel have got into terms to accept her pregnancy, and she was glowing. She was at the end of her 27 weeks and was about to enter the last trimester. Even though she wasn't performing anymore, she was still doing ballet classes with her colleagues. It is true that she had to start to adapt some of the exercises as her belly was becoming more protuberant, but she was keeping up with the others. She was starting to believe that maybe... _just maybe_ that this might not be the end of her career after all.

One thing that she hasn't done yet though, was to inform the rest of her family about her new situation. Even when she went to her father's for Christmas, she wore large jumpers which managed to hide her little bump just fine. Geoffrey for the first time was respecting her wishes and seemed to be taking his promises to help her any way he could to his heart. He had been a gentleman so far, and she couldn't be more happy for this change on their relationship.

As soon as left the ballet studio, she noticed that there were three unread messages on her pager, which she thought was a bit odd, as almost all her friends and colleagues used the mobile phones, ICQ and e-mails nowadays. She then read the first message which came from her cousin Denis who still lived at Little Whinging.

"_Anna, you need to come back to England. Your Mum, her husband, my mother and your grandmother all died in a gas leak at your Granny's house, here in Little Whinging"_

Annabel's hands started to tremble. Her _mother_... her _grandmother_... _Geoffrey's father_... _her father's older Sister_... _all dead_? And from a gas leak as well, in the same way, it had previously happened to all her mother's family when she was around Annabel's own age. But she knew now... it wasn't a gas leak with her mother's family - after all, Harry had told her that in truth they had all been murdered by these _Death Eatery_ gang. Could they have murdered her family in the same way? Could they be after her... or after their baby in order to break Harry?

_ "We are sure that Jess was there at that evening too, but her body is missing. We contacted the authorities, but they have been very evasive. She is currently reported as missing, though_"

Jess had always been Annabel's closest cousin. She was felt a bitter knot on her throat. Jess was so young, so full of life... didn't she want to be a Vet? She couldn't hold her tears any longer.

_"Their bodies have been held by the authorities, as they are still running the post-_morten_ examinations. We are going to keep you and your father informed so we can let you know as soon as we have a date for the funerals"_

Annabel couldn't help but hear Harry's voice in her head urging for her to stay out of the country. "_It is too dangerous to be here at the moment_" she remember to hear him saying. With her daughter on the way now, she couldn't risk it. She was going to have to miss their funerals.

"_We don't have Geoffrey's contact details, so I expect that you can let him know what happened? I hope that you and Geoffrey can make to the funerals. Hope to speak to you soon, Denis"  
_

"_Geoffrey_!" Annabel murmured between her lips. He had already lost his Mother when he was younger and now... he had also lost his father at the tender age of nineteen.

Annabel then quickly sent Geoffrey a text message asking for him to meet her as soon as he could in a cafe which was located just in front of their Greenwich Village apartment.

* * *

Annabel had walked back to the cafe and ordered a Chamomile tea, but instead of drinking it, she couldn't stop steering it with her teaspoon. She was anxious about having to tell Geoffrey the bad news, but even more anxious about telling him about her suspects about what she believed to be the true nature of their deaths.

"I came as soon as I saw your message, Bel. What is going on? Is it something with the baby?"

Annabel was avoiding looking him the eyes, trying not to cry.

"No... she is fine. I just... got some bad news from England"

Geoffrey sat down and grabbed her hand, stroking it slowly. He waited for a few minutes, waiting for her to start to tell him the news, but she didn't.

"What happened? Was it... your grandmother?"

Tears feel down her face and she nodded, as she found herself unable to speak anything at that moment.

"Oh, this is unfortunate. How did it happen?"

Annabel found herself unable to hold herself together any longer. She burst into a loud cry, completely ignoring the fact that she was in a public place and was probably calling a lot of attention from the other customers and cafe staff. Geoffrey pulled her closer and comforted her the way he could. When she felt that she could spare some breath to say some words she started again.

"It... it wasn't... it wasn't ju-just her," She said in the middle of a sob. Then she handled her pager for him to read. "They - they were... they were all murdered, Geoffrey!"

"_They?_" Geoffrey said looking her into her eyes, as asking for answers, but everything she did was point him to the pager.

He then read. Word by word, just like she did, and Annabel could see some of the grief that she had been feeling for the past hour inside his eyes.

"This is... I can't believe it! I have spoken to Dad just a day before yesterday! He said..." But what Geoffrey's father had told him, Annabel would never know, as he stood up and went to the restroom without saying her anything. She remained there at their table alone and decided to finally to have a sip of her own tea. The flowery essence seemed to calm her down even so slightly.

She looked at the window, hoping to get a little bit distracted by watching the world passing by when she noticed about six men wearing dark cloaks in front of their apartment. One of them had a grey owl on his shoulder, and she could clearly see that two of them were carrying wooden sticks - _wands!_ \- Annabel recognised. She then observed they releasing the owl, sending a message attached to its claws in the same way Annabel had done so many times before. Three of the cloaked invidious entered inside her apartment block by the front door, while the other half were patrolling her street.

"Shit, shit, shit!" She stood up trying to remain calm and went to the men's toilet to fletch her step-brother. She knocked the door calling his name, hoping that it wouldn't take long for him to come out.

"Bel...? What's..."

"I don't have time to explain, but we need to leave!" She urged him.

"Why? What's going on?" He asked her while he was trying to hide his own tears of grief from her.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, I do. But..."

"Hold my hand. We need to leave"

Numbed by his own emotional pain as he was, he decided to follow her instructions without asking her anything. They entered the cafe's kitchen and left by their back door. She carried on leading them around the busy city on large steps. They went down the first metro that crossed their paths.

"Where are you taking us?" He asked her as they seated on the free seats in their carriage.

"I'm not sure"

"Anna..."

"There are some dangerous people on our tails, Geoffrey. They murdered our parents. Now they are after us. Please, trust me. We need to get out of here"

* * *

"So... what you are trying to tell me is that your _Scarface_ lover is behind our parents' deaths?"

"What I am trying to say is that the people who are trying to kill him are the ones who have also killed our parents. They are_ his enemies, not his allies_"

"Well, doesn't really make much difference, does it? It is all his fault, all the same! I can not believe that you still defend that criminal. Because this is clearly what he must be one, to have dangerous gangs on his tail"

Annabel sighed frustrated. She tried to tell him as much as she could without mentioning any of the magic. She decided not to mention it not because she thought it was dangerous or forbidden, but because she was afraid that Geoffrey was likely to begin to doubt of her own sanity if she did so. Gangs rivalry, was a way she found to explain why would be people trying to murder Harry, and why it would make her a target.

"It is not like that, Geoffrey. Harry is a good guy. The fact that there is a madman trying to kill him since forever, doesn't make that any less true"

"I understand Bel. You clearly have Stockholm syndrome. Don't worry. I will help you to overcome this, I promise"

Annabel rolled her eyes and decided to don't argue with him. After all, she knew that Geoffrey was also having a field day like she was. After a train and a bus journey, they were no longer inside New York state. They were now in a small city called _New Hope,_ which she had chosen completely randomly. Annabel was trying to get them as far as she could without their passports, which were still inside their Manhattan apartment. As they had left literally only with the clothes they were wearing, they had stopped to buy some few supplies, including a couple of cheap clothes and some essential toiletries. After that, Geoffrey decided to do a check in at a posh Inn, where he thought it would be a good place for them to spend the night and brought them some dinner at the Inn's bar. Only there Annabel had finally told Geoffrey about what she knew, as well as her suspicions that some members of that gang were after her.

She wasn't entirely sure if Geoffrey had fully believed her tale, but he certainly had liked to be able to blame Harry for their misfortune of having lost their parents, and now to be running away to save their own lives. When they arrived at the room, Anna noticed that instead of two single beds, they would be sharing a big king-sized one. She raised her eyebrows inquisitively to him, who just shrugged his shoulders and said.

"This was all they had left. Don't worry... I will sleep on the floor..."

"Don't be ridiculous Geoffrey! This bed is big enough for both of us"

"Right... I guess you should pick your side, then"

She threw herself on the left side, which was the nearest one to the toilet, and pulled her trousers down a little bit relieving herself from the pressure that it was making on her tummy.

"I need to get some stretch trousers soon. This one is killing me!"

Geoffrey remained silent and sat at the corner of the bed with a weird expression on his eyes that Annabel couldn't quite understand. It was then that she felt.

"She is kicking! Would you like to feel her?"

Geoffrey raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I would love to"

He went near to her and placed his hand on her tummy, she grabbed his hand and guided his hand to the place where the baby was kicking.

"Wow, she is really kicking hard!"

"I know, right? I think that I'm not the only one who is not enjoying being compressed by those silly trousers"

"Don't worry _little princess_, I will make sure that your Mummy gets some new trousers tomorrow," Geoffrey said to Annabel's tummy and placed a kiss where the baby was kicking.

Annabel smiled and closed her eyes imagining that it was Harry instead of Geoffrey who was there kissing and caressing her tummy.

* * *

They spent three days in that lovely town. However, when they were starting feeling safe, Annabel noticed more clothed figures were entering their hotel lobby from their room window.

"Geoffrey, look! These guys are from the gang that is after us. We need to leave!"

"Are you sure? They look like they lost their way to a Halloween party" He asked her unconvinced by their looks.

"Positive. That is the gang's look as far as I know"

"Ok, let's get out here"

They quickly grabbed their backpacks and left the hotel room, following the emergency exit signs. In a couple of minutes, they were already on a bus to Trenton.

"How do you think they are following us? Do you think that somehow they are keeping tabs on our credit card expenditure?"

And that is how they ended up deciding to avoid using their debit or credit cards at the city's they were sleeping. They would withdraw their limit allowance and move to somewhere else immediately. Their withdraw limit was generous enough and kept them going for a while. The only trouble has been that in order to make the money last longer, they had to share cheap motels instead of nice posh hotel rooms and use public transportation instead of taxis. After a couple of weeks, Geoffrey decided to buy an old car, which ended up being very helpful at their crazy and exhausting journey. Sometimes they would read emails and send messages to friends. In one of these emails, Annabel had sent to Denis a speech that she wanted to be read at her family funeral. A poem containing a hidden message, to whoever would be interested to find that _she knew_ what they had done. A hidden message in a poem, to whoever wanted to hear it, that she knew what had truly happened to them. And that they would carry on running and surviving, and that the seed of their love would continue to grow inside of her.

And soon the weeks became months and the winter was gone and the spring arrived. And with that, her due date came and passed, and no sign of her daughter yet. This annoyed her because they had planned to be in Portland at that day, as it was the biggest city in the area they were currently in. And a bigger city usually meant easier access to health care if they needed. They remained at that city for a few days, but they changed accommodation every single day as a precaution.

"We could go to Vancouver..."

"I don't think it is far enough to be safe, Geoffrey. Do you think that we could make it to some of these natural hot springs nearby?" She said pointing to a paper map that she was holding.

"Anna, I don't think it is a good idea to get this far from civilization..."

"We will need to leave this city anyway... we could at least stop at one of this on the way?"

Geoffrey looked unsure, but she saw her eyes imploring him for it and he couldn't help but agree with her.

"Sure. We leave at dawn. Well, unless this little one decides that she wants to be an April baby"

"No, I'm pretty sure she is going to be a May one," Annabel said patting her belly.

* * *

And as Annabel had predicted, April ended, and still no sign of her baby. Their journey to the hot spring went smoothly, and they arrived there just before midday. The place was completely stunning, it looked like a dream. The hot spring looked like a small lake surrounded by mountains and green forest. Annabel and Geoffrey decided to take a dip together before they eat their packed lunch. A couple of minutes after she entered the water she started feeling some mild and very spaced contractions. She didn't realise what they were at first, but when she noticed that there a clear pattern of every ten minutes, she knew that her time was approaching. However, she decided not to worry Geoffrey by informing him of what was going on, as she knew that labours tended to last for a long time - especially at the birth of the first child. Besides, she was really enjoying being inside the hot spring, as it seemed to ease her pain.

"Bel, we should keep going. It is almost four o'clock"

Annabel did not want to leave, but she left the hot spring despite that. As soon as they approached the car, a small rain drizzle started. It didn't take very long until drizzle became a storm. When Annabel thought that their situation couldn't get any more dramatic, one of their tyres went flat. At that moment they were on an off-track road, and there was nobody around to help them.

"You stay here in the car. I'm going to see if I can change the tyre"

Annabel just nodded and closed her eyes while she was trying to focus on her breath. The contractions were increasing their intensity and the time between them had diminished. Before they were ten minutes apart, and now they were only four.

"The spare is also flat Anna,"An extremely soaked Geoffrey told her putting his head back inside the car. "I will need to leave you here and try to find some help..."

"No! Please don't leave me!"

"We need to fix the car..."

"I can't stay here alone. I'm coming with you!"

That said, she opened the passenger car door, and started to walk on the muddy road that they had been trying to drive. Geoffrey sighed and followed her closely. Annabel found that walking was felt much better than staying seating on the car, however everytime that a new contraction arrived, she had to stop walking until the pain had passed. It didn't take very long to Geoffrey realised why she was having to stop so frequently.

"You are... you are on labour, aren't you?"

She didn't confirm, but she also did not deny it. None of them knew for exactly how long they carried on walking, but at least every time they stopped for another contraction, Geoffrey would rub her back the way he had been instructed to do at the anti-natal course they had attended together in New York. Her contractions were getting closer and closer... they were less than two minutes apart now.

"Look! A house!" Annabel pointed to a very odd-looking shack in the middle of a hill.

"What house? I can't see anything!"

"That house, look! Over there!" She said just before she had to stop for another contraction.

"There is no house, Anna!" Geoffrey said rubbing her back.

However, as soon her contraction finished, she started to walk down a stoned track that lead to the odd-stone shack. The shack also had a weird roof that looked like a cone made by a golden hay that she had never seen the likes before. Geoffrey followed her, as she did not seem inclined to change her direction, despite his claims that she was going off-track and they were bound to get lost. Geoffrey was only able to see the house when he was literally on its doormat, and he looked stunned.

"How...? How did this...?"

But Annabel ignored him and knocked the door non-stopping for several times until a middle-aged woman answered it by putting only her small head outside the doorframe.

"Hello?" The white-haired lady said with a frown.

"Hi, please, you need to let us in. Our car broke down and I'm in labour"

Annabel said with despair. The lady looked at her and Geoffrey faces and clothes as if examining them. She then shut her door on their face and went back inside. Annabel was about to burst into tears, when she came back opening her door again, this time, letting them in.

"Chop, chop, come on in, then"

The first thing that Annabel felt was the warmth that came from inside her house, the source obviously been the lighted fireplace which the odd lady was using as a stove for her pan that looked similar to the cauldron that she once had saw in Harry's room. The shack looked much larger on the inside than she had believed it was possible to be when she had seemed it outside. Two cats were playing on the carpet with a mouse like toy. Annabel then felt another contraction and forgot to say the words that were in her mind about the lady. Geoffrey then went near Bel and rubbed her back once more.

"Do you have anything for pain?" Geoffrey asked the lady. "Some ibuprofen, paracetamol or anything stronger?"

"Oh yes! yes, pain relief, yes, let me see if I can help" The lady started looking at her odd books while she mumbled things like '_I'm not really a healer'_, _'Will this work for no-_majs_?_' Then she started to stir her cauldron adding some weird looking plants and liquids to it from time to time. She worked on that for about one hour before she left it to brew.

Annabel's contraction was getting closer and closer, and she couldn't wait to start feeling the urge to push. She couldn't wait for this labour to be over. As if hearing her prays, the lady came back with a cup with a green liquid inside.

"I believe this will ease your pain, my dear. It will speed up the process"

Annabel took it from her hand and drank it as quickly as she could. She was having a contraction at that time, and she felt it stop straightway after the liquid had touched her lips.

"Wow, this thing worked like magic! Thank you very much, Ma'am"

"My pleasure. Well, I think that you might start feeling the urge to push,"

But Annabel felt that this was not going to be the case.

"It's true... I'm feeling like pushing now"

"The potion worked then! Perfect!"

"What sort of weird drink have you gave to her, your witch!?" Geoffrey asked in a confrontative manner.

"Geoffrey, SHUT IT!"

"_But_..."

"OUT! GET OUT, GEOFFREY!"

Geoffrey looked that he was going to say something, but he gave up halfway and left the witch's shack slamming the doors behind him.

"Please, help me!" Annabel begged to the other woman.

"Don't worry dear. We will get this little one out there in no time!"

* * *

It was ten minutes past midnight when Annabel's and Harry's little girl had finally arrived. The witch lady offered Annabel her own bed, and she had a long rest with the newborn girl by her side. When Annabel woke up, the sun had already risen welcoming her to a beautiful sunny morning. Annabel panicked when she noticed that her daughter was not anywhere to be seen. Her panic didn't last long, as the lady soon came back inside the shack carrying her little baby girl on her arms. The old lady gave the baby back to Annabel, and she started to feed straightway. Annabel then noticed that her daughter was carrying some berries from a tree. From a _Holly_ tree.

"She is going to give you lots of trouble, this little one," The old lady said with a smile. "Can you believe that she floated all the way to the top of my old husband's Holly-tree?"

"She did what?"

"Well, you will know when the time comes" the lady gave her an enigmatic smile.

"Geoffrey was right, wasn't he? You are a _witch_"

"And you are the mother of one" The now confirmed witch patted the head of her baby "But I guess that you already knew that, didn't you?"

Annabel slowly nodded. _Her _daughter_ was a witch_. Like Harry. Like her father.

"Is her father a wizard then?"

Annabel nodded again.

"And British?"

Annabel nodded once more.

"So... I guess you are running away and he is fighting the war?"

"Yes... how do you know?" Annabel looked impressed with the woman's correct guesses..

"Well, you don't need to be a detective to make those assumptions. I also can imagine which side he was fighting for, giving that you are clearly a no-maj"

The witch got a newspaper from her table and handled it to the muggle girl.

"You will be pleased to know then, that You-know-who was defeated by Harry Potter himself today. There was a battle though. So many casualties! I hope that your daughter's father made it alive. Anyway, I believe that you are probably safe to return to the UK within a couple of weeks"

"Did Harry survived...? Is he ok?"

"Harry Potter? Yes, he is fine! According to the news, he was the one who vanished the One-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named"

Annabel left a single tear fall from her eyes. She looked at her baby girl who was still feeding on her breast. The baby was still holding the holly-tree berries.

"Her father's wand was made by holly tree and phoenix feather. I think that Holly is a name that suits her, don't you think?"

"I think it is indeed a very fitting name for a witch"

"Besides... _Holly Potter_... it does have a _ring_ to it, _don't you agree!?_"

The witch opened her eyes widely and her jaw dropped in shock as she realised who was the father of the baby girl who had just been born inside her small shack.


	13. Broken

**10th August 1998,  
**

Harry was blinded by the dazzling light that flooded his eyes with the opening of one of the windows in the master bedroom. Next to the window, he saw the silhouette of a small woman who was pointing a wand at the other windows in his bedroom. Harry sat down on the corner of the bed and, after putting on his glasses, finally recognized the woman as his best friend, Hermione Granger.

"Good morning, 'Mione," he said while trying to restrain a yawn.

"Good afternoon, Harry," she said while making the five empty bottles disappearing with a wand twist. "Why is this room so messy? Is Kreacher not taking care of you?"

"Hermione, I thought I would never live to see the day you would claim that a house elf hasn't done a proper job," Harry replied while sitting on the bed. He felt a strong headache due to his massive hangover. "But answering your question, I asked Kreacher to leave me alone. By the way, can I ask you the purpose of your visit?"

"I've been worried about you. All of our letters were coming back unread; you haven't been to work the last couple of days, and no one knows why, and I just confirmed with that muggle tourism agency that you never did check in at that hotel in Paris you booked with them. Are those enough reasons for you?" she checked off while sitting down next to him with a typical Hermione glare.

"I blocked the owl post because I wanted to be alone. I know I should probably have told them I had lengthened my time off, but I think that they can live few days without me." Harry said crossing his arms.

"Well, the Aurors are organizing searches for you around the whole country. Have you seen the Daily Prophet? No, you haven't; I forgot, you blocked the owl post," she sighed while giving him a copy of the day's newspaper. The headline was "The Tragic End of Our Most Beloved Hero," and it showed a picture of Harry wearing his Auror uniform.

"Well, as you can see, this is all bollocks. I'm alive."

"Yes, my reasoning skills told me it was a lie from the very beginning. It's a Rita Skeeter article after all! But still… have you thought about how I felt reading an article about your supposed death?" she said angrily.

"Ok, I promise you, I will never disappear like that again, but I still want to be alone. Now if you don't mind going…"

"Of course I do mind! You are my best friend. Whatever happened between you and Annabel, I'm sure you can fix it. But you won't change anything by treating me like this!"

"It's not the kind of thing that you can just sort it out. How do you know that I went after her?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"Neville. We went to her home together yesterday. We pretended to be from the state agency that she hired to rent and sell some of her properties. Apparently, they just realized that the company that belonged to her brother went bankrupt, and her mother had invested tons of money in it. We used the opportunity to scan her place for any sign of magic. Everything is cool and clean. We haven't altered her memory though," she said, trying to be sympathetic.

"Right. Thank you for helping on this; I really appreciate it. I wouldn't have had the stomach to do it myself after seeing what I saw last week," he said, looking a bit grumpy.

"Harry, what happened between you two?"

"Let's just say that now I know exactly how Snape must have felt when he realized that my parents were getting married."

"What do you mean?"

Harry thought for a moment before he answered her question. Did he really want to go through it all again?

"Hermione… you are my best friend. And I believe that you know me better than anyone else. Please, understand that I really don't want to talk about what happened between me and that girl ever again."

"Harry… ok, I understand" This was one of the few times that Harry had seen a wordless Hermione. They maintained the silence for a while, and Harry used this time to go near the bedroom window and appreciate its view.

Hermione was sitting on the bed, immersed in deep thoughts until she jumped out the bed and tapped Harry on his shoulder, looking like she was going to suggest for them to research something in Hogwarts library.

"Well… so at least let's find a good mind healer for you. I'm sure that if I send a letter to St. Mungos they could make you an appointment for tomorrow. Perhaps even for today. You are Harry Potter after all."

"Hermione, I don't think it's really necessary… I'm fine; I just need to be alone." Harry didn't see the point of him going to see a healer. He was in perfect health and didn't see how talking about things that he really wanted to forget could do him any good.

"Come on; I know you have buried yourself alive in this house for the past few days. I don't want to see my best friend falling into a depression. I've read lots of research about depression. You start isolating yourself from society, then you stop talking to people. And after everything you've gone through, it's just not right to see you like this! You will move on… a mind healer is just going to help you to speed up this whole process."

"Look, if I go back to work, will you stop with this crazy idea?" Harry said, trying to persuade her to change her mind.

Hermione gave him a big grin. "All right, maybe you don't need to see a mind healer."

"But in exchange, would you mind doing me a massive favour?" Harry asked, looking a bit defeated.

"Yes?"

Harry opened the draw on his bedside table and pulled out a folded dark blue cloth. He unfolded it and reviled a small silver bracelet with green stones.

"Can you please make sure this reaches her? She left it with me before…" Harry didn't complete the phrase. Thinking about their last night together was too painful.

"Sure. Shall I also give her the letter you left with me in case you died…" Hermione asked, unsure of his intentions.

"No. Just make sure this reaches her. You don't even need to talk to her. Actually, it's better if you don't." Harry said, looking very tired.

And after taking the cloth and placing it safely in her handbag, she left the room and tried to find Kreacher to ask him to help her deliver Annabel's bracelet.

* * *

Annabel had just managed to get Holly to sleep after breastfeeding her. Being a young mother was a very tough job. She hadn't known what was like to have a full night's sleep in ages. Even though Geoff helped her a lot, she still had lots of new responsibilities that weren't normal for an ordinary eighteen-year-old girl.

Annabel looked at the ballerina mobile that was on the top of her daughter's crib and started to think about where she would be if little Holly hadn't been in her life. She would be probably in New York, practising hard with the other girls to be part of the corps de ballet of the NYCB. Annabel sighed.

She loved her little Holly, and even though to be on that stage had been her life's biggest ambition, having her little girl with her was now her biggest dream. Annabel looked to of one of her and Harry's pictures together that she had placed on a shelf beside a single red rose in a blue vase. The picture had been taken in July three years ago during their summer holidays. Holly had inherited her father's bright green eyes and dark hair, but her nose, lips and chin were very similar to her own.

After placing the baby in her crib, Annabel got the baby monitor and went downstairs in order to make herself some dinner. Geoff was probably going end up eating out again. Since they got back to London, they had found out that his father's business situation hasn't been good for a while. Two days ago, both of them had had their credit cards blocked, and their bank accounts had been frozen due to some judicial process that was going on. Until that moment, Annabel didn't know how bad the situation really was. Geoffrey was trying to sort the things out, but he lacked experience and wasn't having much success. Her mother had invested lots of money in his father's business as well, and if they didn't have a nice quantity of cash saved in their house safe, their situation would be even worse.

Once her salad was ready, she thought that maybe she could watch a movie or read a book while eating, but then her eyes dropped to her ballet shoes. How long had it been since she had last danced with them? Probably a few weeks, but for her, it felt like years, even a lifetime. After spending every day of her life dedicating herself to ballet, now it felt like she was living in someone else's life. Holly was sleeping; Geoff was out. She had the whole living room to be herself once again.

She decided that she wanted to try doing the Odette solo from _Swan Lake_. As the music started playing, she started her soft coordinated movements. Her arms wiggled like wings, and her feet guided her, making her look like she was floating into the living room. She closed her eyes and felt like she was the Odette herself. She was the pure, innocent girl, bewitched and condemned to live as a swan unless she found true love.

When she was almost done with the solo, she heard a cry coming from the baby monitor she had brought downstairs with her. She immediately turned off the music and went upstairs to see how Holly was doing. The baby girl had awakened much sooner than she was expecting her to.

"Shhh… Mom is here, Holly, my love," she said while picking her up.

Almost immediately the baby calmed down. Annabel started to sing a lullaby while walking around the baby girl's room. Then her eyes stopped on the same picture she had been examining earlier; a small dark blue cloth had been placed in front of it. She opened it carefully and saw her aunt's old bracelet, the same one she had given to Harry to take with him almost one year ago.

"Harry? HARRY! HARRY, ARE YOU HERE?"

She shouted desperately to the walls as if expecting him to appear from the thin air.

"HARRY, WHERE ARE YOU?"

She looked for him everywhere. Maybe he was wearing that magic cloak of his. Why wouldn't he appear to talk to her? But soon enough, she realized: he was not coming. He wasn't there. He had gone, and giving her bracelet to her could only mean one thing – he was not going to come back.

Annabel hugged Holly, and they cried together. She cried as she had never done before. All her worst fears, all her nightmares, all her last hopes had died at that moment. Harry wasn't coming back. She was like Odette: betrayed and left all alone to live with her own fate.


	14. A fresh start

Almost three months had passed since Annabel had found her old aunt's bracelet and realised that Harry wasn't going to come back. It was still very hard to think about the wizard, but Holly kept her busy and gave her all the strength she needed to carry on. Meanwhile, her financial situation was still complicated. Apparently, Geoffrey's father had had a business partner who had used their company for money laundering and had fled the country not long ago.

The debts with the suppliers had forced Geoffrey to declare his company bankrupt. Luckily for Annabel, her mother had made a very clever prenuptial agreement which separated her possessions from her husband's very clearly. Because of this, Annabel wasn't bankrupt and had recovered her access to her bank accounts. However, despite this slight reprieve, her problem now was that no money was coming in, but everyday money was coming out.

If she had understood a little bit of finance, maybe then she would have known how to invest her money more wisely. But at the moment, everything she was doing was eating up her mother's savings and investments. They would need to start to work soon if they didn't want to lose everything her family had.

Annabel was pushing Holly's buggy around the small square in front of her house, trying to think about jobs she could possibly do from home. She needed to find a way she could be able to take care of Holly and work at the same time. She was thinking about this when one of her neighbours came out to greet her and her daughter.

"Hi Annabel, how are you? How is your little girl doing?" asked a young slender woman while approaching them.

"We're good. She'll be six months next week. The time flies! How about you; what have you been up to?" Annabel answered politely.

"I've been trying to organize Kayla's birthday party. I've been so lost; there are so many things to think about! I remembered that you used to have best birthday parties ever! Tell me the secret. How did you do it?"

It was at this moment that Annabel had an idea.

"It's not very hard. I actively helped organize all my parties from a very young age. Even my mother's wedding was basically organized by me. I'm currently starting an event planning and catering business. If you want, I would love to give you a hand." Annabel heard the words coming out her mouth before she could think about them.

"Really? That sounds perfect! Would you really do this for me?" The woman really looked happy with the offer.

"Of course! And we've known each other for such a long time, and my business is really just starting, so I am sure I can offer you a very nice deal."

"Annabel, you're an angel. Why don't you come into my house for a cup of tea? My Kayla has a lot of requests and ideas that we need to discuss," the woman said, pointing to her house.

Annabel was ecstatic. She had a client! Now all she needed to do was officially start her company.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve at the Burrow, and Harry was alone in the garden, sitting down on a bench while watching two gnomes making their way out of the snow. He wasn't very surprised when Ginny sat down next to him.

"Please, don't leave. I have a feeling that you have been trying to avoid me since I came back from Hogwarts," Ginny stated.

She was right. Harry was trying hard to avoid the youngest Weasley. They had briefly dated for a couple of weeks at the end of his sixth year, just before the war exploded. She was a nice woman, and Harry didn't want to hurt her feelings. He knew that she still liked him, but his head was focused on Annabel.

It was ironic how much easier it had been for him to get over the muggle girl the first time when he had believed that she had been unfaithful to him. That time, he was very angry with Annabel, and it was so easy to feel for Ginny! But now that he knew that Bel was with Geoffrey and that they were going to get married, it was much harder to get over her.

Maybe it was because he felt that this time he was the one who had abandoned her in his quest to kill Voldemort; he was the one who had signed the end of their un-started relationship. Didn't he explicitly ask Annabel to go and live her life and forget about him after that night?

_But she promised to wait_. The bitter thought crept in continuously.

Maybe the fact that she now had a daughter and was going to tie the knot made everything seem much more permanent and impossible to go back to.

"I'm sorry if I gave you that impression," Harry said tiredly.

"It wasn't an impression," she said, crossing her arms. "Are you going to deny that you leave the room every time I am left alone with you?"

"I'm sorry, Ginny. I just don't want to hurt you."

"But that's exactly what you are doing. Or do you think that I don't feel hurt by the way you are treating me?" she raised one eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but I…"

"I don't want you to be sorry! I want you to move on. Don't you think it's time, Harry?"

"Time for what?"

"Time for this."

Before Harry could do anything about it, Ginny pressed her lips against his and embraced him in a passionate kiss.

"This is what I was trying so hard to avoid, you see?" Harry said, pushing her away from him.

"Harry, please don't punish yourself for things that are out of your control. I'm here, and you're here. And we deserve to be happy."

"Ginny… it's not that simple."

"Why not?" she said, touching his hair in an affectionate way.

"Things have happened. I am a different man from the boy you dated a year and a half ago. I have many more scars, most of which you can't see."

"And do you think I'm the same girl? This war didn't change only you, Harry. Don't be so vain," she said, moving away from him a bit.

"I'm not saying that…"

"Please give yourself a chance to be happy. Please help me try to be the one to make you happy."

"Ginny, I don't think it would be right."

"Why wouldn't it be right?"

Harry stopped for few seconds while he thought about how much he should share with her.

"I'm in love with another girl, Ginny."

"Oh… right. This wasn't what I was expecting," she said awkwardly.

"Do you understand now why I say that I don't want to hurt you?"

"Yes. I think that I've never been turned down so badly before in my life. So, does your girlfriend work in the Ministry?"

"No, sadly she is not my girlfriend."

"She doesn't know you have feelings for her then?"

"Actually, she does know. But she is going to get married to another guy sometime soon."

For the first time, Harry had said it out loud for someone else to hear.

"Oh, Harry! It sounds awful!" Ginny bit her lips.

"It's actually worse than it sounds. All I want is to take her out of my mind, but it feels like someone has glued her image inside my head! I wish more than anything that I could forget her and feel for you again… but it's been so hard to get over it!"

"This girl… she is so silly!" Ginny said defeated.

Harry wasn't sure why he had decided to share his feelings with Ginny. He thought that he probably had never looked so miserable. He could feel tears threatening to fall, but he wouldn't let them escape. Ginny hugged him, and slowly, he hugged her back. She started to kiss him again. This time, when Harry was about to stop it, he decided that he was enjoying her touch and started to respond to her kiss.

"Harry… let me help you to forget her," she asked in a whisper.

"I can't do this to you. I can't use you to forget another girl. This is just not right!"

"I am the one who is asking… _begging_, for you to do it."

"Ginny… and if it doesn't work? I don't want to disappoint you."

"We'll only know if it's going to work if we try."

"But…" Harry tried to protest, but Ginny placed her hands on his lips.

"I know the risks, and I want to take them."

She kissed him again with even more passion. Harry returned her kiss and decided that he would do everything possible in order for his relationship with Ginny to work out.

* * *

**September 1999 or more than one year after Hogwarts Battle**

Annabel looked at her reflection in the mirror. It was her wedding day. She remembered when she saw her mother also wearing a bridal gown, looking at the same old mirror that she was looking at now. At that time, if somebody had told her that she would end up getting married only five years after her mother, she would have laughed. If someone had told her that her husband to be would be Geoffrey, she probably would have suggested that whoever had said that had serious mental problems. Yet there she was, dressed like a bride, ready to walk down the aisle and make promises of eternal love to _him_.

A very handsome curly, dark-haired man that Annabel recognized to be her father entered the room.

"_Mia bambina_, all grown up! It feels like it was yesterday that I was carrying you in my arms. Now look at you, _una bella donna_!" he said, kissing his daughter's forehead. "You are looking so much like your mother when we got married. I remember it just like it was yesterday. She was glowing, like a fairytale _principessa. _I know that your mother and I had our differences, but she has always been my _favourite_ – please don't tell that to my other's wives. It's a real shame that Helen can't be here with us today."

"_Babbo_!" Annabel said, hugging her father. She knew that it would be hard not to cry today. And she didn't even want to think about the wedding speeches.

"Does this Geoffrey guy make you happy?"

She stopped for a moment before answering her father.

"We made a great team. He is amazing really."

"But does he make you happy? Does he make your heart beat fast? Do you love him? There is nothing more important for a father than to know that his children are happy."

Annabel was thinking about how to answer his question when Jess rushed inside carrying Holly in her arms.

"Hi! Look who came here to say hello to Mummy! It's the flower girl!"

"Hey, gorgeous! Look at you! You are looking so pretty in your new dress," Annabel said, getting closer to where they were.

"Mummy!" Holly said while she inclined to be picked up by her mother.

"Bel, Lucca, the cars are here. It's time for us to go to the church."

Glad to have a nice excuse to escape her father's questioning, Bel held her little girl and led everybody to the cars.

Did Geoffrey make her happy? Yes, she guessed he did. It was nice and comforting knowing that he always would be there for her, no matter what happened.

Did he make her heart beat fast? No, definitely not. They had no chemistry together.

Did she love him? That was a difficult one. She loved him as a friend, as a partner, as a brother. She tried to see him with other eyes – romantic eyes – but it wasn't very simple. She only hoped that with the loving care of her husband-to-be, she would be able to build stronger feelings for him.


	15. Fate

**January 2003 – or four and a half years after the Battle of Hogwarts**

Harry threw his cloak on the sofa and sat down in his armchair. He looked to the kitchen and with a shake of his wand, the kettle started to heat the water. It had been an eventful evening; Ron's and Hermione's engagement dinner had been a very special occasion. Harry was genuinely very happy for his best friends who were going to start a new chapter in their lives together, but at the same time, he felt a bit uncomfortable with all the comments that people had made, asking him when he was going to propose Ginny.

The fact was that even after being together for a nice and enjoyable four years, the thought of marrying the youngest Weasley hadn't really passed through his head until that moment when people started to suggest it. He didn't know why people seemed to be so insistent about the idea, as he and Ginny didn't even officially live together yet – to be fair, she spent most of the week at his place, but she still shared a flat with two other players from the Holyhead Harpies.

Ginny was a very good girlfriend. She was always very understanding and caring, and she always respected his space and his time. No matter how late he came back from work, she would always receive him back with a big smile on her face and nice meal ready for him. She would certainly be a perfect wife, not to mention a wonderful mother. And he certainly wanted to have children one day. He had no doubt about it. Maybe everybody was right, and it was time for him to take another step in their relationship.

"Master's tea is ready," Kreacher said, carrying Harry's tea in a nice silver tray.

"Thank you, Kreacher. How has your day been?"

"Kreacher went to old Mistress's house to do some cleaning. Master Potter's house is very tiny and doesn't give Kreacher enough work to do!"

Harry grinned. It wasn't unusual for Kreacher to complain about the small amount of work that Harry would ask for him to do. Harry would answer him, telling him that he could do whatever would please him with all his free time, but Kreacher would always try to find more work to do.

Shortly after starting his relationship with Ginny, Harry decided to buy a small two bedroom flat in a muggle area in London. Harry really liked the cosiness of the place, which was located right in the heart of the city. There was a room for Teddy whenever Andromeda would let him stay a few days with Harry; it was close enough to the Ministry that Harry could go walk to work without needing to apparate; he was surrounded by an infinite number of options of interesting muggle places to go. He felt very comfortable here because no one would point and whisper things about him and his scar. The only downside of living so centrally was that it was not a very good place to go out for a broom ride. However, he could always go to the Burrow and play a friendly Quidditch match with the Weasley's.

After finishing his tea, Harry went to a store cupboard to try to find his mother's old engagement ring, which he had found one day in the Potter family vault just after the war was over. It was incredible the number of things that he had managed to keep in here throughout the last four years. He didn't believe that all his belongs would fit in his old school trunk once he moved in.

"_Accio_ ring"

A big wooden box fell on the floor, causing a good number of letters that were being kept inside it spill out. A small ring box that had been kept inside the big wooden box flew from the floor and into his hands immediately.

He bent down to pick up the cards that had fallen on the ground, and he realised that they were all Annabel's old letters. He sighed when his hands touched her old handwriting, and he could still smell her perfume on them. Then he remembered that he had collected the ring from his vault with the original intention of giving it to the muggle girl, but he never had the chance to give it to her because she married another guy.

It felt so strange that even though he and Annabel never really had had a normal of relationship, he had no doubts when it came to the fact that she was the one for him, despite the fact that they were clearly unmatched in so many ways. He had never really managed to completely forget the muggle girl, but he certainly had learned how to move over this feeling. Ginny, however, was the perfect girl in so many aspects, but he still felt like they lacked something… almost as if there was a hidden imperfection inside the perfection of their relationship.

Harry put the letters back into the wooden box and magically locked it. He then put the engagement ring inside his sock drawer. He would need a little bit more time to digest the idea, but certainly, the time to move that fateful step forward in his relationship with Ginny was approaching.

* * *

It was one in the morning when Annabel arrived back home after helping coordinate the cocktail party for the inauguration of an exhibition in a local art gallery. More than four years had passed since she had started her business, and it had grown considerably.

If she compared the life she had had before having Holly and the life she had now, she would conclude that the only thing that hadn't changed was that she still lived on her old family house. Everything else was different – even her appearance. Now she had dark brown hair styled in a channel haircut style; the clothes that she used to wear before usually that would give her a young, carefree look now looked somehow more grown up. The dancing she still enjoyed more than anything was now something that was reserved to be done during her limited free time. Balancing the double shift of being a young mother and a businesswoman was something very difficult, but with the assistance of the always helpful Geoffrey, she was able to achieve it.

When Annabel finally made it to her room that night, she was very surprised to find Geoffrey awake, very concentrated on his work on his laptop.

"Still up?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"I was working on my essay. It's due next week," he said, shutting off the laptop. "And I was also waiting for my beautiful wife to come back home," he said, grabbing her hand and pushing her to the couple's bed.

"Wait, wait, stop Geoff! I'm so tired. I had such a busy day!" she said, trying to pull away from his hug.

"You're always tired!" he complained.

"Oh yes, try living my life for a day, and I bet you that you would feel tired as well," she said while starting to undress, taking off her leather boots.

"Okay, I see what you're saying. Helping you out with Holly, working a part-time job as a photographer, and finishing an MSc on tax law at the same time is not considered to be busy enough for you," Geoff said, a bit resentful.

"No, that's not what I said!" She rolled her eyes while taking off her blouse. "Geoffrey, my darling, it's past one. You know how I hate _DTR_… this is really not a good time." Annabel complained as she got rid of her bra.

"I would like to have another child," he told her simply, ignoring what she just had told him.

"Excuse me?" Annabel eyes opened widely in massive shock.

"I've been thinking a lot about it, you know," he said, trying to hug her almost completely naked body. "I'm sure that I'll find a very good job when I finish this course in few months, and… we've paid all my father's debts, and we have very nice savings… and I think it's time."

"Wait, wait, wait," she said while she removed his hands from her body and quickly got dressed in her pyjamas. "What the hell are you talking about? Having children is a big commitment. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this just yet," she said just before she lay down on her side of the bed.

"I'm sure you are! Just look at you and Holly together…"

"That's completely different! Holly was here before you and I started. But planning to have another child now? I'm not even sure if I want to have another child!" she said, turning on her side.

"Holly is always asking us when she is going to have a baby brother or a baby sister…" he said, pressing his body against hers, "and I really would like to have my own one day," he said, kissing her neck, but she pushed him away again.

"Geoffrey, let's talk about it another time, shall we?"

Saying this, Annabel turned off the lights of her bedside table lampshade, ending the discussion. After what seemed like a few minutes, but in actuality were a few hours, Annabel and Geoffrey were awakened by 35 inches of a young girl, the owner of two bright green eyes framed by a pair of red oval glasses, and black wavy hair. She walked into the room carrying a tyrannosaurus rex stuffed animal and turned on the lights of their room without asking permission.

"Mummy, I had a nightmare…"

"Oh, Holly lollypops, who was it this time!?" Annabel asked in the middle of a yawn.

"There is something making a noise under my bed," Holly said, shuffling near her mother.

"Oh no! Let's get the torch and have a look." Annabel stood up and held the hand of her little girl.

They walked together to Annabel's old room, which now belonged to her daughter. Once there, Bel turned on the lights and grabbed a torch, which was placed on top of her old desk and pointed its light under the bed.

"See? There is nothing to fear, my love," Annabel said, kissing her daughter's forehead. "And you have your big T-Rex to protect you."

"But Mom, what if T-Rex is not quick enough? I'm scared. Stay with me, please!" Holly grabbed Annabel's hand in an attempt to try to keep her from going away.

"Very well. I will stay with you until you sleep, deal?" Annabel lay on her daughter's bed with her.

"Deal!" Holly smiled.

Bel noticed that the girl was playing with the locket necklace that had once belonged to Harry's family. He had given it to Annabel as a Christmas present, and she had decided to pass it on to their daughter on her fourth birthday. The girl had inherited several traits from her biological father, but she definitely had Bel's smile.

"Mummy…" Holly started saying in her cute voice. "When are you going to pick me up from school again?"

"I don't know, _Hollyhoops__. _I've just been so busy with all of these events that are all happening at the same time!"

"But it's been two weeks since you last picked me up! It always Dad or Uncle Matt or uncle Dudley or someone else from your job!" Holly crossed her arms.

Annabel bit her lip. She knew too well what it was like to have a mother who had given her far away too little time and attention; she had sworn never to do this with her children, and now she seemed to be doing exactly the same thing.

"I will pick you up tomorrow, ok? And then we are going to see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum!" Annabel said, trying to compensate for her previous absence.

"WOW! The real dinosaurs?" The girl asked, excited.

"YES! The real ones! They are massive; wait until you see them. We can take pictures of them and put them on your wall!" Bel said, hugging her daughter tighter.

"You are the best mom in the entire world!" Holly returned the hug.

Annabel couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Harry was sitting in his cubicle in the Auror Squad office at the Ministry of Magic. Today, he was leading one of the emergency call teams from the office, which meant that he was responsible for leading a group of five Aurors if they were needed to attend an emergency call. This wasn't his normal job; he was still very new in the office to be assigned this kind of role, but one of the wizards who was usually a team leader had been injured in a duel last week and hadn't been feeling very well since.

His team was a very good team, and it included two of his best friends: Ron and Neville. It also included two other senior Aurors and a new recruit that had started training last year. Since the war, they had changed the way they trained the new recruits, combining theory with practical fieldwork.

This was the last Friday of the month, and Harry was very excited about the perspective of a full weekend off, the first one he had had in a while. Ginny was off participating in an international Quidditch championship in Asia, and Harry was going to attend to one of the matches with Teddy.

It was a very long shift – from ten in the morning until half past midnight, but he was used to that. Besides, it had been a very calm day so far. The biggest incident they had been called to was a case of underage accidental magic in a muggle area, which was easily sorted by sending one single Auror to tidy up the mess and give a warning to the teenage girl.

When the red sirens flashed in their office with a loud buzz, Harry stood up immediately, as did many other Aurors. It meant that someone had fired unforgivable curses somewhere in Great Britain.

"_Curse, Level 13 has been fired in London at the Natural History Museum, Red Zone, dinosaurs gallery; Accidental underage magic Level 8 has occurred in London at the Natural History Museum, Red Zone, dinosaurs gallery; Curse Level 7 has been fired_…" A mechanical-sounding woman's voice echoed in their office where every single auror could hear it.

"Potter, Dawlish and Savage teams, GO NOW!" Gawain Robards, the head of the auror department, shouted to them. "Yang, get all obliviators in the building and send them there. Tracy, alert the Minister!"

Harry got his team ready and in less than five seconds they all arrived in front of a transparent glass room, which would only fit five people at the time. Dawlish and Savage teams arrived there at practically the same time. The room was the only place inside the Ministry of Magic's whole building where it was possible to apparate, and the Aurors used it every time they had an emergency like this. One could only apparate into or out of the room if he or she was an Auror or was accompanied by one.

Harry went to the front of all fifteen Aurors and said without stopping to think twice, "This place is huge, and it's going to be full of muggles – so be discrete. Savage team, I want you to block all the exits for the dinosaur gallery; set up some traps to catch the enemy; we can't let them escape. Protect the muggles, but don't let them go!" Just after Harry finished, Savage's team entered the glass door, and all five Aurors disappeared together.

"Dawlish, I want you to work with me in the dinosaur gallery. You lead your team in from the north; I'll come from the south."

In the blink of an eye, Dawlish's team had also disappeared, and before Harry could think, he was leading his team through the dinosaur gallery's main entrance.


	16. Dinosaurs Attack

Annabel and Holly were on the upper deck bridge of the dinosaur gallery at the Natural History Museum. On the metal bridge, which crossed the entire gallery, they had a very nice view of all the massive skeletons, especially the ones that stretched up to the ceiling.

"Mum, Mum, look that one!" Holly exclaimed, pointing to a small one that reminded Annabel of a dragon without wings.

Holly was still wearing her school uniform; her blue tie was hanging loose on her neck. She was carrying the baby T-Rex she usually slept with, insisting he deserved to get to know his family.

"Let's see what it says." Bel bent down to read the information plaque about the extinct creature. "It says that this one is an Iguanodon that was a plant-eater and lived here in England!"

Holly stayed there for a while, fascinated by the creature. Annabel looked at her watch. It was half-past five. Dudley was covering her this afternoon, but they were coordinating two main events that evening, and she knew that Dudley couldn't be in two places at the same time. She didn't want to rush Holly, but they would need to move fast if they wanted to see the whole gallery that day.

Annabel took out her heavy bag one of Geoffrey's old cameras that she had borrowed and started to take some pictures from the museum. It was then that she noticed three robust men wearing identical black coats who were not more than five meters away from her. The one in the middle was holding a wooden stick in his left hand – a wand! Annabel recognised it immediately. After all, how many times had she seen Harry carry his? Her heart started beating quickly the moment the man pointed the wand at a spot just near were Holly was standing.

Just as the man cast the spell, Annabel jerked Holly out the way. The beam of light that had been aimed at her daughter's head hit the metal bridge's handles instead. With surprising agility, Bel threw her heavy bag in the face of the wizard who was carrying his wand on his wrist, picked Holly up from the ground, and dashed in the opposite direction from where the three men were standing.

"Teddy!" Holly shouted, pointing to the baby T-Rex that had fallen on the floor amidst all of the confusion.

"Shushh," Annabel said to her daughter, who was now facing the wizards; however, the only thing that Holly could focus on was her little T-Rex that had been abandoned where she had been standing beside her mother mere seconds ago. Annabel continued to run, ignoring her daughter, without stopping to apologise to the people she had bumped into along the way.

The three men exchanged annoyed glares, and the youngest man on the right raised his wand and pointed to Annabel, who was still running a good twenty meters away from them.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A cold jet of green light left his wand and travelled in Annabel's direction. However, a young muggle boy, no older than ten who moved at just the wrong time, was the recipient of the Unforgivable, his destiny sealed by the curse meant for Annabel, who carried on running, still unaware of what had just happened. Holly, however, had watched the entire scene and started to scream.

"You bloody idiot!" the wizard with the goatee, recovering from being hit by Annabel's bag, said to the one who had fired the Unforgivable curse. "You just invited the whole British ministry here, you twat! Why don't you send them an invitation next time?" he exclaimed, full of rage, hitting the younger wizard in the face.

A small crowd of muggles had formed around the place where the boy had just collapsed. Annabel tried to leave the bridge to go to the next room (the Tyrannosaurs Rex room), but for some reason, it was blocked, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't walk through the door.

Annabel turned around with Holly still screaming in her arms and saw that the three wizards were approaching them quickly. However, something completely unexpected happened: the dinosaurs hanging from the ceiling started to fly towards the three wizards.

Annabel bit her lip; she didn't want to think about what nasty jinx they were going to perform next, but to her surprise, the Wizards were just as shocked as she was. The skeletons fell quickly, hitting the wizards, and before Annabel could comprehend what was going on, the metal bridge melted all the way down to the very place where Holly and Annabel were standing, causing the three dark wizards to fall to the ground floor. It was only then that Annabel realised, to her astonishment, that it had been Holly who had performed this act of powerful magic.

* * *

Carmen Ekatarina Mirzoyev-Garcia, a witch only in her mid-twenties, was on the ground floor of the dinosaur gallery observing the whole scene. Despite her muggle clothing, her shocking red hair made it easy for her to stand out from the crowd. When she realised that the silly muggle had decided to run away, she had blocked the passage from the bridge so Marco and those idiots would catch her sooner or later. But no, they had been completely embarrassed by a four-year-old girl. How pathetic was that?

"Bunch of amateurs!" she complained before pointing her own wand at the metal bench that she was sitting on. The bench started to float like it was a charmed magical lift until she reached the top of the bridge. Once there, she stood up, and with the grace of a princess, she left the bench, walking across the upper deck bridge, her icy blue eyes glaring at Annabel with a feeling of superiority.

Annabel hugged Holly tightly and tried to move forward once more, and to her surprise, this time they managed to get through the barrier.

* * *

When the three wizards that had fallen to the floor started to stand up, someone had just trigged the fire alarm and made the few muggles in the museum who were still unaware of the small battle that had just taken place just a few meters from them run like ants in an anthill on fire. The wristband of the oldest wizard gave a small electric shock to his right arm.

"Anti-apparition shields have being placed. Aurors are here!" the younger wizard whispered to the other two.

"We bloody need to get away from here then!" The smaller wizard said in a panic.

"We must get the girl first! If we don't get her now, and they realise why we are here, they're very likely to lock the little bitch up under a Fidelius charm until she is ovulating," said the bold middle-aged man. "Both of you, create a distraction – I'm going to grab this little pest."

* * *

Harry and his crew arrived at the dinosaur gallery by its main entrance, which was the same upper deck entrance that Annabel and Holly had been standing on just seconds before he arrived. The first thing that caught his attention was the two wizards who were in the centre of the ground level throwing fireballs in muggles' directions. The second thing that he noticed was the big gap on the bridge where he and his team were standing. Finally, he noticed a small group of muggles standing in a circle around a boy's dead body not very far away from them.

Harry's team stayed still behind him, waiting for his instructions. Before Harry could open his mouth, he saw Dawlish and three of his five Aurors start attacking the two wizards who were throwing fireballs downstairs.

"Ron, Daston, Hawkes, Ruby, have you all brought your brooms?" The four of them confirmed with head nods. "I want you guys to scan this room. This" - he said, pointing at the duel happening between their colleagues and the two wizards, "smells like a distraction. They are doing something else here – probably stealing. We need to stop them. The order is to arrest any wizard we see in this place."

All four Aurors opened the small bags attached to their waists, and each one took out his own broom from the bag and took flight straight away.

"Neville, I know that we might not have enough time, but I want to try mapping the place."

Mapping a place was a very new "Auror technology" that Harry had created, inspired by the Marauder's map. Harry had found the original Marauders' notes concerning the map, and he had optimized them in order to make a nice working tool for the Aurors. Harry knew that it would take a long three and half minutes to complete a map for a place this size – however if they managed to do it, they would have the location and the name of all wizards and muggles in the museum. "I want you to help me; let's divide the wizards in red and muggles in blue."

They mounted their brooms and ripped a parchment in two to start casting the old enchantments on the walls. Each one of them was flying in a different direction. The map was taking shape as they carried on casting the spell.

* * *

Annabel and Holly entered a dark room with a mechanical replica of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which was growling and moving its head and tail in a very intimidating way. This room was usually very busy, but weirdly enough, it was completely empty today. The first thing Annabel did was find an emergency exit door at the back of the room. Annabel ran there with Holly at her side, but the door was blocked. It wouldn't open, regardless of how hard she tried.

"Please! Come on…" Annabel cried in despair while she banged the door.

"Don't be silly, muggle. All the exits from this museum have been magically locked. I can't get out and neither can you," said the red-haired witch who was around Annabel's age.

If the witch was concerned by the presence of a bunch of Aurors in the building, her face didn't register any of it. Instead, she walked down the ramp towards mother and daughter as if she was parading on a catwalk. Annabel shielded Holly with her body while she tried to slowly walk backwards, not daring to turn her back to the witch.

"W-What do y-you want?" Annabel asked, fearing her answer.

"Give me the girl, and nobody will get hurt," Carmen said with her wand drawn. She was still walking towards Annabel and Holly.

"No! Not my Holly! P-please, t-take me instead of her!" Annabel said, trembling.

"What would I do with a piece of shit like you? Move! I won't ask twice." Carmen was very close to them now – no more than two meters away.

"P-please…" Annabel begged.

But Carmen had no mercy. The red-haired witch raised her wand, and when she was about to open her mouth to cast a spell, Annabel took a deep breath and moved forward. She disarmed the witch with a Taekwondo movement that she had learned at the self-defence classes that her mother had forced her to attend when she was a child.

"What the hell!?" The witch exclaimed just before being punched so hard in her eye by Annabel's elbow that the pain made her bend down.

"RUN!" Annabel said to her daughter.

Holly stayed still, looking to her mother, who was trying to immobilise the witch with a wrestling movement. The witch was trying to get ride the muggle girl, but it seemed highly unlikely unless she could perform some magic. Carmen was an outstanding duellist; however, she was completely ignorant in the field of muggle fighting.

"Holly, if you don't run now, you'll be grounded for an entire year!"

That threat was enough to make the little girl leave the Tyrannosaurus Rex room.

Annabel was on top of Carmen, holding the witch on the ground with the weight of her body. Carmen tried to push her away, but it was in vain. Annabel raised her hand and slapped the witch on her face.

"This is for trying to take my daughter away from me." Annabel was shaking with rage. "And this is for calling me a piece of shit," she said, slapping the witch once more.

However, in her thirst for revenge, Annabel missed the witch's right hand, which quickly performed a wandless and silent _Accio _and managed to recover her wand. Without losing any more time, Carmen pointed it immediately at Annabel's face.

"Crucio!"

It was Annabel's turn to squirm in pain. Carmen stood up and looked down at the muggle who was wiggling at her feet.

"You have just bought yourself a very painful death, muggle." Carmen suspended the effect of the Cruciatus curse, so Annabel would surely remember what she did after that. "And yes, you are a piece of shit!" Carmen spit on Annabel's face and stepped on her hands with her sharp high heels, making them bleed.

Carmen then pointed her wand at the mechanical dinosaur, casting a spell that would bring the extinct beast to life.

"Kill her!" Carmen ordered to the dinosaur.

Annabel, who was still trying to stand on her feet because of the powerful effect that the Cruciatus had on her, suddenly felt a new wave of adrenaline rush through her body. She dashed, running for her life, passing through the same door that Holly had entered minutes ago. The dinosaur tried to follow her, but the door arch wasn't big enough for his massive body. After trying twice, the Tyrannosaurus Rex knocked the wall down, and he left to carry on following his prey.

Once alone in the room, Carmen pointed at wand herself and transfigured her hair, making it shorter and dark. She also made her skin colour a nice shade of black and modified her eyes, turning the icy blue into a fiery brown. After this, she also transfigured her clothes, changing her coat and gloves' colour and shape.

Once she finished working on her appearance, she opened the big stone on her ring, revealing a secret magical expanding compartment. She took out two small vials, one containing a red liquid and the other a purple one. She immediately drank the first vial's contents and put its empty bottle back down her ring. Then, with the help of her wand, she made a muggle syringe appear on her left hand. She filled the syringe with the purple liquid and kept the vial, as well her wand, inside the ring.

Carmen took a deep breath before pressing the syringe into her neck. She suppressed the scream of agony that fought to leave her lips – scrutinizing pain was one of the side effects of the magic-repressing potion. The first potion would make her completely immune to memory charms; the second potion had the power of eliminating any sign of magic from her body. For the next twenty-four hours, she would be as powerless as a muggle. The British ministry's Aurors would never find out whom she actually was.

Before she began staging her role of the muggle who was running away from the 'bad men,' she bitterly thought that maybe she should have killed the muggle woman when she had the chance. However, the idea of that muggle having a painful death at the hands, no…teeth, of a Tyrannosaurus Rex was much more tempting than a simple Death Curse; after everything the muggle had dared to do, she deserved to suffer much more than that! However, they couldn't afford to have her tell the Aurors the real reason for the attack. If she did so, the girl would be almost unreachable.

"_Holly, if you don't run now, you'll be grounded for an entire year!" _

Holly didn't want to leave the Tyrannosaurus Rex room and leave her mother alone with that bad woman, but a threat like that was hard to ignore. Holly had never seen her mother fighting with anyone before; she was scared, and she really wanted to go home with her mother and with her baby T-Rex, if it was possible.

Holly was running alone, trying not to bump into the adults who all seemed to be in a panic as well. It was then that she saw the big man with the goatee who smiled at her in a maniacal way.

"Hello, little princess; time to go home with Uncle Marco," he said, raising his wand to cast a spell, but before he could say any kind of enchantment, the wand flew away from his hands and went straight into Ronald Weasley's hold.

Ron, who had just been flying a few meters above the two, landed next to them with both wands safely in his right hand.

"You are under arrest. You have the right…" But Ronald never got a chance to finish his sentence because Marco punched him in the face with his muscled fist, making him shut up at once. Marco then took his wand back from Ron's hand, as well as Ron's own wand, using his physical strength. However, when Marco turned around to get Holly, the girl had disappeared.

"Little bitch. Wait until I get my hands on you…" he grunted to himself.

He was about to cast a spell to try to locate Holly when he was suddenly attacked by four Aurors, giving him no choice but to duel them back. Marco was duelling with his and Ron's wands, a very hard technique mastered only by very few wizards.

It was at this moment a very much _alive_ Tyrannosaurus Rex invaded the room, making Marco and the four Aurors momentarily suspend their duel to observe the creature that came into the gallery thirsty for blood.

Marco then realised that it was unlikely that he would be getting Holly that day. If only they had chosen the school approach and done it all the muggle way like Francesco had suggested! The only thing he could do now was to get out with the others. All alive if possible…

He pointed his wand at the section of the wall that he knew would take them out onto the street and shouted, "BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"

The spell made a massive hole in the wall, and because it was a brand new exit, it hadn't been blocked by the Aurors yet. Marco then whistled to the other two wizards who were still duelling with the ministry Aurors, and they understood that it was their time to go. Marco used a simple _Accio_ to take the brooms that belonged to the Aurors that had been duelling with him and who were now trying to stop the Tyrannosaurus Rex that was currently trying to eat the muggles.

It was only a matter of seconds before Marco and his two partners left the museum mounted on their newly stolen brooms. However, the entire Dawlish team left on their tails.

* * *

"_Kill her!" Carmen ordered the dinosaur. _

Annabel, who was standing up a bit, still staggering, looked at the dinosaur fearfully. She didn't want to die like this, eaten by that monstrous creature in front of that evil woman. Although she still felt a bit unstable, she started to run, aiming to find a way to make the dinosaur stop following her.

But the Tyrannosaurus Rex didn't stop. It knocked down the wall and continued to follow her. Its mouth, full of pointy teeth roared in a way that made her whole body shake. Her fear was so deep that Annabel ended up stumbling and twisting her ankle. She looked one last time at the beast- the one that would be her executioner-and closed her eyes, waiting for the pain that inevitably would come when the creature began to tear her body apart.

But the pain didn't come. Instead, she felt a pair of strong arms holding her body and lifting her up in the air. When Annabel dared to open her eyes, to her astonishment, she realized that she was flying. She was flying on a broom. She let a gasp escape her mouth before hearing a familiar, unforgettable voice.

"Hold on tight. We're going to land."

* * *

Harry had almost finished the mapping when he noticed the muggle that had just fallen on the floor. He quickly looked around and realised that no one else seemed to have noticed that this murderous creature was going to kill her. Without thinking twice, he directed his broom to the very place where she had fallen and wrapped his arms around her body. He lifted her weight, carrying her on the side while he controlled his broom with his other free hand.

He felt a nice, familiar smell emanating from her short dark hair and from the rest of her body. _No, it can't be her,_ he thought before he heard her gasp.

"Hold on tight. We're going to land."

It was only after he landed on the ground and dismounted his broom that they could see each other's faces. He was still holding her body in his arms when their eyes met again after more than five years apart. Harry's heart was beating so fast that he thought it would beat out of his chest; Annabel's eyes betrayed her and allowed a single tear to fall. He could feel that she was trembling. He moved his hand to the back of her neck and touched her forehead with his forehead. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth as her body begged for a kiss to happen.

He let his broom fall on the floor and closed his eyes, completely forgetting where they were or what he was doing. It was like the time hadn't passed; it felt like they were once again the same teenagers that had just exchanged promises of eternal love after spending their first night together. It felt like nobody else in the world existed, and it felt like the world itself had ceased its existence. It was only Harry and Bel – together. The way that it always should have been.

"MUMMY!"

Annabel, who was centimetres away from Harry's lips, immediately opened her eyes and pushed Harry away. She looked towards the direction of where the girl's voice had come and opened her arms to hug the small girl who was running in their direction.


	17. Mother and daughter

Harry was caught by surprise when Annabel pushed him away and opened her arms to hug the little brunette. Despite the difference in colour, the girl's hair was curly at the ends, exactly how Annabel's hair used to be when she was younger. While he silently watched mother and daughter hugging each other, he tried to find more similarities between the two of them. The girl clearly had some very strong features that reminded him of _someone,_ but he wasn't sure who.

When Annabel started to fall forward because of her twisted ankle, Harry immediately grabbed them both to give more support to his former lover and her daughter. It was only then that he managed to get a glimpse of the little girl's vivid green eyes that were kept hidden by her cute oval-shaped red glasses. However, Annabel didn't seem very happy with his proximity this time.

"Harry, don't! I'm fine; _we_ are fine!" she said a bit dryly, trying to push him away, but at the same time, she was failing to keep her balance.

"No, _you_ are clearly not fine!" he said, holding her again and magically conjuring a chair and helping her sit down. "How did you get this blood on your hands?"

"I think I might have landed on something sharp when I fell," she lied. She didn't want to tell him or her daughter about what that evil woman had done to her.

"Episkey," Harry said, pointing his wand at both of her hands, healing them immediately. "I prefer leaving your ankle for the healers, as I'm sure that some will be here very soon."

Harry noticed that both mother and daughter looked very impressed by his magical abilities. _Of course_, he thought, _they're muggles_. And even though Annabel knew about magic, she hadn't seen him doing it like that before.

"Mum, who is this man?" Holly asked, very impressed with the '_magic man_._'_

Annabel, however, completely froze with the question. She looked away from Harry and Holly before finally give her an answer.

"This man is… an old friend of mine," Annabel said after choosing her words very carefully.

"But you never come to visit us!" Holly said questioningly to Harry.

"It's because we were friends before you were born," Harry answered her kindly, crouching at the girl's eye-level.

"But are you two not friends anymore? Did you two have a fight?" Harry looked to Annabel, trying to find some help in answering this question, but the woman seemed to be too deeply interested in her own fingernails to give him any attention.

"No, we didn't have a fight. Life just happened to take us down different paths," he answered her simply.

If the girl failed to understand what he said, she didn't mention it. Instead, she touched his scar with her tiny little hands, making him raise his eyebrows in surprise. Even though he was pretty used to people staring at his scar, he wasn't very used to people to touch it.

"This is a funny scar!" the girl said with a cheeky smile.

"_Holly_!" Annabel exclaimed, failing to ignore them any longer.

"That's okay," Harry answered, smiling to Annabel. "That's probably the best description I've ever heard for my scar."

The three of them stayed silent for a while. Harry couldn't really understand the weird expression on Annabel's face, but if he had to guess, he would say that she was fighting an inner battle within herself. Honestly, he was feeling conflicting emotions himself; seeing her again made it clearer than ever that he had failed to forget her as he had believed. However, seeing her and Geoffrey's young daughter was a reminder to him of the reason he made the decision to forget her in the first place. Despite that, he couldn't avoid liking the little girl immediately. He didn't understand why, but he felt a strong connection with her.

"Sir, here you are!" A young Auror-in-training named Ruby approached him completely out of breath. "We managed to put the Tyrannosaurus down, but the suspects have stolen our brooms and managed to escape!" she said, pointing to the hole on the wall.

"Merlin's beard!" Harry said, in complete shock.

He was astonished by how much of the battle he had missed after realizing that Annabel and her daughter were present at the scene. Even though it felt like the world had stopped spinning, it clearly hadn't, and they were letting the criminals slip through their fingers.

"Dawlish and his team are on their tails; the oldest suspect has also stolen Auror Weasley's wand and left him injured; I thought you would like to see your friend."

"Of course!" Harry said to his trainee, hoping that his best friend wasn't too injured. "Here, take my broom and join Dawlish on this search. I feel like they might need all the help they can get. I'll stay and coordinate the investigation from here until Auror Robards arrives."

She nodded at him, took his Firebolt, and started to fly away. Harry gave an apologetic look to Annabel and her daughter.

"I'm sorry, but I will need to leave you two here for a second; I promise that I will come back to check on you as soon as I can," Harry said, giving them a warm look, but Annabel responded with a cold, resentful glare.

* * *

Harry was trying to find his best friend in the middle of all the chaos that had been caused by the Tyrannosaurus attack. He saw a large number of confused muggles who were still trying to understanding what was going on. Harry saw one of the members of his team talking to a woman who was crying over the dead body of a child. He felt a strong knot in his chest while he imagined who could have possibly been behind such a murderous act. It wasn't much longer until he saw Ron sitting down in a corner with blood draining from his nose.

"Ron? What's up, mate? I heard that you got your wand nicked by those bastards!"

"Those bloody monsters! I really hope that Dawlish and his team are competent enough to catch them all. I swear to you that I will make sure they're locked in Azkaban for the rest of eternity!"

"I'm sure that it won't be hard; have you seen how young the boy was that they killed? Poor kid; David is there talking to his mother."

"That's one of the parts of this job that I hate to do!" Ron sighed. "Do you think that they were here to kill that boy?"

"It's a possibility that shouldn't be ignored. But no; I believe that they probably were here to steal something, and maybe the boy found something that he wasn't supposed to. We shouldn't make assumptions though. You know very well that it's useless to do that before the reports are taken. Come on, let me fix your nose; we have a ton of work to do here, and I really hope to keep that promise I made, saying I'll take Teddy to your sister's match tomorrow." Harry pointed his wand at his best friend and repaired his face the same way that he had healed Annabel's hands.

"My wand! How am I going to be able to help do anything without my wand?!" Ron asked in complete despair.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that someone will have a spare one that you can borrow; if not, you can always use one of the spare ones from the Ministry," Harry said sympathetically.

However, Ron didn't look very pleased with this.

"They'd bloody better arrest this scum! I really don't want to have to rely on useless wands!"

* * *

Carmen had succeeded in her little plan of camouflaging herself among the muggles. She was walking without direction, trying to see if she could locate the little pest who had brought on all this trouble. She didn't particularly believe that bullshit about that prophecy that the old **Dom Rizzottoni** had bragged about for anyone who would listen. However, if there was any possibility that the girl was _the One_, she wanted to make sure that she was personally involved in it.

When Carmen finally found the young pest seated on her _very-much-alive mother's lap_, she felt an immense rage that surged from her stomach up to her head. That stupid muggle needed to die, and it was going to happen today! For Carmen, her death was a matter of pride, and it was much more important than putting her hands on any dirty half-blood pest.

After thinking for a few good seconds, she came up with a plan that, if it worked, would kill two birds with one stone! She was in possession of an illegal portal key that was safely kept inside her ring for emergency situations; if she managed to touch it at the same time she was touching both of them, she would be able to get mother and daughter out of the country, far away from the British Ministry's immediate reach. By the time they found them, the muggle would be dead, and the little pest would be already gone, hidden so well that they'd never find her.

Carmen was about to start marching towards mother and daughter when a round-faced, dark-haired Auror started to talk to them. She silently cursed him; if only she could only use her magic! If she could have, she was sure that the curse wouldn't have stayed only in her mind.

* * *

Annabel couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened in the last couple of minutes: the three wizards who were trying to get her daughter; the evil woman; the dinosaurs that had almost killed her; Harry.

He hadn't changed at all: the same messy dark-hair; the same vibrant green eyes that she loved so much; the same blindness; the same smile; the same kindness in all his small gestures. However, what she had before seen as attractive, she now resented. Did he not realize that Holly was his daughter? How could he not see it? Or did he realize it, but had decided to ignore the fact?

Despite everything, she also hated herself for being such a weak person and almost letting herself fall into his arms once again. No, she wasn't going to allow it to happen. _She_ was fine; _they_ were fine in a perfectly nice life far away from him! Holly already had a father who loved her, and she didn't need another one. She wasn't going to let Harry Potter come in and destroy her carefully re-built life that had taken ages for her to construct. _No way_! She would do anything within her reach to keep him far away from them.

It was at that moment, as she was deeply immersed in thoughts about all the possible strategies that she could use to keep Harry away from them, that a round-faced man approached her with a warm smile on his face.

"Hi ma'am, could I have a quick word with you?" he asked politely.

Annabel noticed that he was wearing the same type of official-looking uniform that Harry was wearing, which, in her mind, wasn't a very good sign.

"Who are you?" she asked crossly.

"Pardon my rudeness. I'm Auror Neville Longbottom, and you are Ms Morelli, right?"

"_Harrison._ Annabel Harrison," she said shortly. She didn't want to have anything to do with a man that was supposed to be Harry's colleague.

Auror Longbottom took a map from inside his robes and looked back at her with a smile on his face.

"And you, little one? Can you tell me your name?" Neville asked the little girl on Annabel's lap.

"Mum, is this man your friend too?" the little girl turned around to ask her mother.

"No, but he seems very nice," Annabel answered her sincerely. "You can answer him."

"My name is Holly," the girl answered him in the end.

"Holly, huh? Beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Mrs Morelli, I mean, Harrison... looking at my parchment, you are a muggle, so please don't think me rude, but I need to ask you: are you aware of the fact that your daughter is a witch?"

Annabel blinked a couple of times while she thought about this question. Was she aware? Of course, she was! Since her daughter was small, Annabel had noticed her making her colourful toys fly inside her crib. Was Harry asking this man to test her? Whatever it was, she didn't like it.

"What are you trying to insinuate?" Bel answered, trying to hide the wave of emotions that she was feeling.

"I'm not insinuating anything. I'm just confirming that she is a witch, or if you prefer, a person who is able to perform magic. Have you never noticed strange things happening around Holly?"

"Okay… let's say that she is a witch… what's the problem with that?" she asked sharply.

"That's no problem at all! However, I know that some underage accidental magic happened here today, and I believe that it was Holly here who performed it. I only need to ask some questions of both of you regarding this episode, that's all."

"If you give me your word that this is all you want from us, I can't think of any reason not to help you," Annabel said, a little bit more calmly. Maybe this man hadn't been sent there by Harry after all.

"Thank you very much for your cooperation, Mrs Harrison," Neville said, conjuring a second chair and sitting down. Neville took from his front pocket a small notepad and a small feather pen.

"Okay, so let's start from the beginning again. So your name is," he paused to check the map that he had on his lap, "Annabel Harrison, mother of Holly Dorothy Harrison, correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"And who is Holly's father?" Neville asked her casually, without taking his eyes from his parchments. He clearly wasn't expecting such a strong reaction from such a simple question.

"What _exactly_ are you trying to _insinuate__,_ Mr Longbottom!?" Annabel grumbled, full of anger. "You told me that these were questions about some accidental magic!"

"But this is for the registers! I need to know if she has any known magical relative in her family for the past four generations!" Neville answered her, very confused at the _strange_ behaviour from the muggle woman.

"Does this make any difference at all?" she answered him sharply.

"Of course it doesn't! No sane person judges people regarding their blood status nowadays! After everything that's happened over the past few years, it's now considered a criminal offence!"

Holly looked very confusedly at the two adults having two different conversations at the same time.

"What is a _blood statue_?" Holly asked, looking from the Auror to her mother.

Annabel remained silent, leaving Neville to answer the strange question.

"Er… I don't think you should worry about that Miss Harrison. It's a boring adult term. Mrs Harrison, I really do need to know if the girl has any magical relative that you are aware of…"

"No, she doesn't have any. Geoffrey Harrison is her father's name; I'm pretty sure that he is a muggle too," Annabel lied.

"Good. Holly is what we call a _muggleborn_ then. Now, I need you to think: what kind of unusual things happened when Holly performed magic here today?"

"Everything was normal; we were just walking around the museum…"

Annabel decided to exclude the part where she had noticed that the three men were after her daughter. She didn't want to call attention to herself or to her daughter and risk telling them things that would lead to even more questions that would reveal the truth about Holly's true father.

"I… I… saw that big boy falling on the floor after the old man hit him with the green light!" Holly had decided to answer even though the question hadn't been directed at her.

"You saw the boy being hit by the Unforgivable?!" Neville's eyes opened widely in shock. "What else did you see?"

"They were running after the boy, and I wanted them to stop!"

"Was it then that you performed magic? You made the men stop?"

Holly looked confused, so her mother decided to pick up answering the questions.

"Yes, she did. She made all the bones from the skeletons that were suspended in the air fall down on the men's heads; she also destroyed part of the bridge, knocking the men down onto the ground floor," she said, pointing to the bridge so Neville could actually see what Holly had done.

"Wow, this is very impressive Holly. Such powerful magic at such an early age! There are many grown-up wizards that couldn't do such damage…"

Annabel replied, allowing a smile to cross her lips for the first time since they had started to talk.

"Yes, you don't want to see her angry. This little one has always had a terrible temper, just like her parents."

* * *

Harry and Ron were about to start the normal procedure of scanning the area for dark magical artefacts when they saw Minister Kingsley and Gawain Robards, the head of the Auror Department, enter the room accompanied by some high ranking Ministry employees. Harry was happy to see Hermione among them. Harry raised his hand and waved for the group, who quickly gathered at the spot where he and Ronald were standing.

"What a mess!" were the minister's first words. "Did they manage to escape?" he asked, pointing to the big hole in the wall.

"Unfortunately, they did. Dawlish is on their tail though; I hope he catches them," Harry answered him.

"How many?"

"Three skilful bastards!" Harry answered, a bit embarrassed at being bested by just three wizards who were fighting against ten qualified Aurors.

"I just hope that there are no more from the dirty hole from where those came!" It was Gawain's turn to join the conversation. "Otherwise, we'll all be screwed!"

"Anyone injured? Deaths?"

"One muggle boy was hit by the Death Curse. There are some injured people, yes."

"Healers and obviators should be arriving any second now," Gawain answered.

"Any clue about the motivation behind the attack?" Hermione asked this question.

"No, none that I'm aware of; Savage's team is all focused on interviewing the witness. Some of mine are doing the same; I was just about to start scanning the area for dark artefacts when you arrived."

"It's a good thing that we're here then; it looks like there is a lot of work here that needs to be done!" the minister said.

It was then that they were interrupted by Neville.

"Hey, I just found the muggle-born witch who performed the accidental magic. She also witnessed the muggle boy being hit by the Death Curse!"

"Where is she?" the minister asked immediately.

"She's over there sitting on her mother's lap," Neville said, pointing to the place were Annabel and Holly were sitting. "Her name is Holly, Holly Harrison."

Harry completely froze when he saw the girl at whom Neville was pointing; she was Annabel's little girl.

"No… no… it can't be. They are muggle. I'm pretty sure of that." Harry was certain that his friend had made a mistake.

"No, Harry; I'm pretty sure she is a witch; she is a muggle-born. Just look at the map!" Neville said, handing the map of the museum to Harry.

He saw a clear red dot with the name _Holly Dorothy Morelli-Harrison_ just next to the blue dot labelled _Annabel Dorothy Morelli_.

Hermione, who was looking at the map over Harry's shoulders, raised her eyebrows in shock and asked her best friend, "Harry… is this _her_?"

"Yes."

Hermione opened her mouth in shock and covered it with her hands. She looked even more surprised than he was. Nobody else seemed to understand Harry and Hermione's conversation or why Hermione would be so shocked after reading the name of the muggle girl.

"The girl must be taken to the Ministry. She witnessed the boy's death. I'm sure she will be an important piece in us figuring out this puzzle," Kingsley ordered.

"Kingsley, Gawain, would you mind if I interviewed the mother and daughter myself?" Harry asked. It was very rare for him to make this type of request, although he knew that people very rarely denied him these little favours.

"That's fine with me, Harry" the minister answered first.

"It's okay with me as well, but I would like to be present, and I would like Mr Longbottom to join us again, if he doesn't mind," Gawain, the Head Auror answered him.

"Not at all, Sir!" Neville answered him.

"I would like to be present too if you don't mind, Robards," Hermione said, giving her best friend an encouraging tap on his shoulders.

* * *

"Hey Bel!" Harry demanded, catching her by surprise. "How long have you known that your daughter is a witch?"

"What do you want, Harry? I told everything you need to know to your friend!" she said, pointing to Longbottom.

"Do you two know each other?" Neville asked, surprised.

"We were childhood friends," Harry answered simply. "Bel, answer me! How…long…have…you…known?"

Annabel gave him a long sigh, but it was Holly who answered him instead.

"I'm not a witch!" Holly said, furrowing her eyebrows. "My daddy says that I'm his little princess!"

"Being a witch is not a bad thing! I think that it's much better than be a princess!" Hermione knelt down to look into the little girl's eyes. "It means that you can make magical things happen." Hermione made a butterfly appear in her hand, and she handed it over to the little girl, who looked very impressed.

"Can I have one of those magical sticks, Mummy, please?" The little girl looked to Annabel with a begging look in her eyes, but it was Harry who answered her instead.

"No, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until you are eleven years old before you are allowed to have one of those, but I can get you a fake one from George's shop if you're a very good girl today and answer all our questions."

"No! Nobody else is going to be interrogating my daughter!" Annabel said, looking very angry. "We have already answered all of the questions that Mr Longbottom asked; I'm late to a work event, and it's almost time for Holly's dinner, so if you would kindly let us go…"

"Don't you understand the gravity of the things that your daughter has witnessed?" Harry asked her harshly. "Would you mind having a few words in private with me?"

Annabel didn't look very keen on leaving her daughter to the care of strangers, especially after what had happened earlier, but Harry finally managed to convince her to leave the girl with Neville, Kingsley, Gawain and Hermione after some persuasion.

* * *

"Bel… your daughter just witnessed the murder of an eight-year-old boy. We don't know what motivated those men to kill him, but we need to figure it out! Holly's help might be essential for us to understand why they did what they did, or she might even be able to help us recognize them."

"Harry… don't you think that you are asking too much of a four-year-old girl?" she answered him coldly. "As you just pointed out, she's had to deal with a great amount of stress today, and I won't deny that I have also had my share, especially if you consider that big dinosaur, trying to eat me alive, made by that evil woman!"

"Wait! Which evil woman are you talking about?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"The one who animated that beastly creature! Who else would it be?"

"Have you seen her? Could you describe her? Would you mind sharing this memory with me?" Harry asked her very eagerly. This is the first he had heard of a fourth component of this _gang_.

"No way! You are definitely _not_ allowed to see any of my memories!" She was so angry that she was almost spitting fire as she spoke.

"Annabel, you are being unreasonable!" Harry was starting to lose his temper as well. _What have I done to deserve such treatment_?

"Unreasonable? So says the one who disappears for more than a year and doesn't even have the decency to give back my bracelet to my face! Despite what happened to me and my family… you didn't even care!" She was now shaking and using all her willpower to stop the tears from falling.

"You know _very well_ why I had to disappear! It's not like you waited very long for me anyway… _you_ are the one that married Geoffrey so quickly!" Harry decided he wasn't going to listen to it all quietly. He might have made some mistakes, but so did she!

"Don't you dare say that again!" she said, full of rage.

"You're going to hold all of this against me? Fine! But you are being immature for letting it get in the way of an investigation like this! Do you have any idea how long it has been since someone has died by a killing curse in this country? Those people are dangerous, Bel. I can tell you that! I'll tell you, especially now that you have a daughter who is going to be a part of this world, _my world_, you should help us get them."

"Don't you dare talk about _my daughter_ like you know what is best for her!" She closed her eyes, letting one single tear fall.

Harry felt completely puzzled. He didn't understand why she was behaving like this. She couldn't possibly believe that he wanted something bad to happen to her daughter, could she?

"Annabel… if you don't want me to interrogate you, that's fine. You can talk to Neville again if you prefer, but please, don't let whatever we had to interfere with this…"

"Holly and I have already answered all of Mr Longbottom's questions. Please, if you have _any_ compassion towards me or _my daughter_, let us go home."

She looked straight into Harry's eyes, her brown ones into his green ones. She looked extremely tired, and Harry, for a moment, considered using legilimency to extract some relevant information for the case, but, in the end, he couldn't do it. Invading her mind like that seemed wrong. She wasn't a criminal; even though it was frustrating for him, she had the right to keep those things to herself if she wished to do so.

"Okay," Harry sighed, "I see that you are very tired and that you refuse to speak with me or to anyone else about anything related to this incident right now. If it's okay with you, I will send a team to your residence tomorrow to collect your and your daughter's testimony."

Annabel rolled her eyes.

"You had to become a policeman, didn't you? Out of all the professions in the world, you had to became what I hate the most!"

"The world doesn't revolve around you, Bel."

"I told you for you to stop calling me that…"

They stayed silent for a while. She looked so different from the teenage girl that he had said goodbye to more than five years ago. Her hair was fuller, her body had more curves, her clothes were different; however, her eyes were the same because eyes never change. He knew that something wasn't right; he felt that her heart was full of resentment, but he couldn't yet figure out what exactly had happened for her to treat him like that.

"Let's go back to the others. I want to have a final word with my boss before taking you home."

"You're letting me go then?" She raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Yes, but I want to make sure that both of you will be safe first." With this, he pointed to the place where Holly was happily talking with Hermione.

* * *

"Let me see if I understand you, Harry." Gawain Robards, the head of the Auror Department looked at Harry in complete disbelief. "You are asking me to let this muggle who claims to have seen a person that nobody else seems to have noticed so far, and her daughter who was an eyewitness to that boy's murder go home without giving us a testimony?"

"Yes, and I'm also asking you to give them Auror protection at least until this investigation is over," Harry asked, very confident.

"Harry… I've just heard back from the group that was led by Dawlish and followed that scum; we have three Aurors seriously injured who are at St. Mungos right now. I was actually about to ask you if we could suspend your two days off for this weekend – I know you booked them quite a while ago, but with these things happening now…"

"That's okay. I'll volunteer to watch her house if that's the case."

"Harry, you do not understand how critical our situation is! I'm already borrowing staff from other departments because we don't have enough from ours to cover this. I have six men down sick, three of those who are gravely injured and might not even recover, God forbid. This makes it unrealistic for me to send my men to fill positions that are not of the utmost urgency."

"But they are important eyewitnesses of what happened, Gawain! You must be able to see that!" Harry asked in despair.

"I do not have any real reason to believe that this little girl and her mother are in immediate danger, so it makes sense not to use our necessary resources that could be much better used in other areas."

"Mr Robards…"

"Harry!" The head Auror put both of his hands on Harry's shoulders. "I understand that you have a special connection with this muggle. Kingsley told me that you had special permission from the Ministry to tell her about our world before the war started. You know the law; you know the kind of protections that you are legally allowed to put on her place, so do it! But I can't send people to babysit her at the moment; I'm sorry about that."

"Right… I understand. I definitely will do that," Harry said with a long sigh. "Have we caught any of the suspects at least?"

"Oh yeah, one of the mother fuckers died! Unfortunately, one of our Aurors was injured exactly for just looking at the man's dead body. It's very sinister what happened."

"What happened?"

"Ruby was petrified; we are suspecting a tattoo made with a basilisk's blood."

Harry opened his eyes widely. "This must be very dark stuff. The only ones who are known to do such things are the…"

"Yakuza wizards…"

After giving Harry one last tap on his shoulder, Gawain left to talk with another Auror who was doing a magical collection of data at the scene of the crime.

* * *

After finishing her private talk with Harry, Annabel went back to where Holly was waiting with the other wizards and witches; she saw that her daughter was being examined by a witch that she hadn't seen before. The woman was wearing blue robes with a white apron over them and a hat with a medical symbol on her head.

"Hi… I hope Holly has behaved herself," Annabel said, looking at Hermione and Neville for an answer.

"Holly is gorgeous!" Hermione answered her, smiling in reassurance. "I can only hope that when I have kids, they are as cute and polite as she is. And according to Miss Borges here, she is also very healthy!"

"She is a little bit magically exhausted, but it's so unnoticeable that the only medicine I can suggest is a very good hot meal and a long night's sleep," Miss Borges said with a large smile directed at Annabel. "Now you… I see that you're limping; come on, sit down here and let me have a look at your leg."

Annabel did as she was commanded, and the witch started to examine her leg with her hands. When she found the part that was causing Annabel pain, she took her wand out of her robes and performed a spell that allowed her to see the young mother's bones through her trousers. Annabel was completely amazed by this – it was like she had been through one of the most modern muggle scans available, but without the machine and with even better resolution.

"Yes, I can clearly see that you had a subluxation or a dislocation of your joints." Miss Borges noticed that Annabel was looking very scared at her comment and quickly added, "Don't you worry; I can fix you in a second."

Once again, the witch waved her wand at Annabel's leg, immobilizing it completely; then she performed another spell that forced Annabel to let escape a small squeal of pain.

"Well done, well done; it's over," the healer said, removing the spell that had immobilized Annabel's leg temporarily. "Now you can move your leg… you see? Good as new!"

Annabel moved her leg, and, indeed, it felt amazing! If only she could have had this kind of treatment while she was a ballerina; her life would have been much more simple.

"Thank you so much, Miss Borges! I wish I had met you earlier in my life… you would have saved me so much time away from plasters and physiotherapy!"

She chuckled. "You are welcome, dear. Now let me finish your checkup. It's common for us to give a general check to everybody who has an injury like you had."

Annabel waited patiently while the healer felt her pulse, shined a light in her eyes, looked at her tongue, and performed some other spells on diverse areas of her body.

"Dear, I need you to be completely honest with me. Do you remember being hit by any spell?"

Annabel sighed in resignation. Now they'd never let her go home! "Maybe… I'm not sure."

"Well, I think that you were hit by a very nasty pain curse. If that's the case, you need to take a potion; otherwise, you could have some permanent damage…" The healer explained her options, looking into her eyes.

"Yes, I think I was hit by one of those," Annabel said, looking down at her knees, remembering the grin on the face of that evil woman as she subjected Annabel to the most agonizing pain she had ever felt. Neville and Hermione exchanged a concerned glare. Even Holly, currently being hugged from behind by Hermione, noticed that something wasn't right.

"Okay, I need you to answer me: Was this pain something that reminded you of sharp burning knives on your skin, or it was the pain coming from inside of your body felt like it was burning and twisting your limbs and your whole body in general?"

"I'm not sure… maybe the first option; it was the worse pain I have ever felt in my life."

"Did you seen the beam of light that hit you?"

"Yes…"

"Do you remember what colour it was?"

"I think it was light blue…" Annabel answered, a bit unsure.

Hermione covered her mouth with one of her hands and hugged Holly even tighter with her free hand. Neville looked very concerned, and the healer bit her lip. Annabel noticed these reactions and remembered the strong pain that she had felt; she really hoped that she wouldn't have any permanent damage.

"Is… is it very serious?" Annabel asked the healer.

"Well, I believe that you've been hit by the Cruciatus curse, which one of the worst curses someone can cast. I don't believe that you've been exposed to it long enough to suffer any permanent damage; but because you are a muggle, the effect is much stronger on you than it would be for a wizard and witch. Therefore, I think it's very important for you to have a nerve tranquillizer potion. Also, I would like to keep an eye on you for the next couple of days; maybe I can schedule a visit to your residence?"

"Okay, I will give you my details. Thank you very much; you're very kind;" Annabel said calmly.

Neville waited for the healer to administrate the potion and leave them alone again before asking her the question that had been on the tip of his tongue since he had heard about the curse.

"Er… Mrs Morelli, why didn't you mention that you were hit by that nasty curse earlier?"

"I… I just didn't think it was important…" Annabel said, looking down her feet.

"It certainly is! Come on, if we want to catch who did that to you, we'll need to know as many details as possible about it!" Neville said, looking deep into her eyes.

Annabel didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she looked at Holly, who was looking at the adults with a puzzled expression. Hermione understood that she might not want the girl to listen to how her mother had been tortured.

"Holly, would you like to go for a walk with me?" Hermione asked, looking for Annabel's approval with her eyes.

"Mummy, can I go please?" Holly asked Annabel, begging with her eyes.

"Sure. Just don't leave my eyesight please; after everything that's happened today, I really don't want to lose you again."

Hermione nodded and left with Holly, leaving Annabel alone with Neville.

"Now Mrs Morelli, let's start again; where were you exactly when you were hit by the Cruciatus curse?"

Annabel sighed before giving an answer to the young auror. "In the room where they keep the replica of the Tyrannosaurus Rex."

"Can you describe the person who attacked you?"

"It was a very beautiful red-haired woman… I think that she was around my age…"

"Right…" Neville said, taking some notes. "What happened just before she cast that curse on you?"

Annabel smiled before answering him. "She was lying on the floor after having received a very strong punch from me."

It was Neville's turn to smile back. "Would you mind if I extract the memory so we can analyze it more carefully in the laboratory? Don't worry; it won't hurt!" Neville tried.

"Only if you can promise me that your colleague Potter won't have any access to it."

"You really don't like him, do you?" Neville sighed. "I don't know what you have against him, but believe me, he is a nice guy."

"I know very well the kind of nice guy that he is. So, can you give me your word that he won't see my memories?"

"Yes, I suppose." Neville decided not to mention that even if Harry didn't see the memory, he certainly would end up learning its contents through the reports and meetings where it certainly would be discussed.

It was just after Neville managed to get her memory safely stored in a small vial that they noticed Harry approaching them quickly.

* * *

After he had asked permission from the Head of the Auror Department to take the mother and daughter back to their home, Harry went straight to the spot where he had left the two waiting. He noticed that Holly wasn't there with them.

"Annabel… I'll be taking you and Holly home," Harry said, looking deeply into her eyes. She looked very relieved at this prospect.

"Finally! Is it possible to Mr Longbottom to come with me instead of you?"she asked coldly.

"No. I'm afraid that it's better for me this time. As I've known you for a long time, and also because the connection we had…you know, me revealing the magical world to you years ago…I'll be able to protect your house much better than any other Auror will possibly be able to."

"Is anyone staying there with them?" Neville asked Harry.

"No… Robards was firm in that. He claimed that we are very short-staffed at the moment."

"That's not good," Neville said, concerned.

"Shall we go now?" Annabel asked after checking her watch. "I have a sixteenth birthday party that started ten minutes ago, and I was supposed to be there at least one hour before it began!"

Harry nodded, and they went to get Holly so they could leave the museum. Annabel was very relieved that Harry ended up deciding to take them back home. She would never admit it to anyone, but she felt more exhausted than she could ever remember being, and she couldn't help but feel sad that her day was still far from ending.


	18. Blood ties

When Harry mentioned that he would take her and her daughter home, Annabel had originally thought that he was going to call a cab or drive them home in his own car. However, what actually happened was very different than anything she could have possibly expected. Annabel was confused when Harry took them to a deserted area in front of the museum, picked Holly up, and asked her to hug him tight. Despite her suspicions, her heart was beating fast as she approached him, letting their bodies touch each other intimately once again. Harry tried to make her comfortable as he put his free arm around her waist, bringing the three of them into close contact with one another.

"Just hold me tight, and don't let go."

She wasn't given a chance to respond. Annabel felt like Harry was being pulled away from her, and she had to concentrate intensely to maintain the grip. Then everything went dark; she couldn't breathe, and she felt like her body was being compressed while simultaneously being pulled into different directions. When she finally managed to recover her senses, she was astonished to find that they were only a few meters away from her house, which was located on the other side of central London.

"Oh my…" Annabel opened her mouth, but words couldn't describe her shock.

"Mummy! We travelled with magic!" Holly smiled, taking it much more in stride than her mother had.

The young witch tried to pull out of Harry's arms, but he wouldn't let her go just yet. Harry retrieved his wand from his pocket and started to cast some spells towards the house. He needed to make sure that there wasn't an ambush waiting for them to return. Although the house seemed to be clear at first sight, one thing caught his attention. Some protective spells seemed to have been cast on the place. They weren't complex spells, and they did seem to be cast on the house a long time ago. Harry frowned suspiciously while he thought about whom could possibly want to protect them in the wizarding world.

"Is anything wrong, Harry?" Annabel asked him, fearing for the worst.

"Not necessarily. I just don't know who…" Harry said more to himself than to answer her question. Annabel was about to question him further, but he held up a hand, cutting her off.

With a touch of his hand, his wristwatch was transformed into a very small mirror, which he brought to eye level and said, "Wizards and Muggles Relations Office." A few seconds later, an old balding red-haired appeared in the mirror.

"Harry! What a mess this Muggle museum attack has been! I've sent Audrey there to make sure that all the Muggles have all the support they need…."

"Yes, I was there leading a team… Arthur, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to check if there is any registration of any protection spells warded on the household of Annabel Dorothy Morelli…"

"Harrison. My new surname is Harrison. I'm married now." Harry felt a knot in his throat. He obviously knew that she and Geoffrey would be married by now, but hearing the confirmation from her mouth made everything sound much more real.

"Hold on Harry, I'll do a quick check on the Muggles protected by the Ministry Register; I'll be back in a sec."

While they waited, Harry stayed alert, holding his wand firm in his clutch as if he was expecting an attack to break out at any second. At the same time, he kept a hold of Annabel and Holly, keeping them very close to his body in case he needed to do an emergency apparition with the both of them. After a minute that seemed more like an eternity, Mr Weasley came back holding a very old-looking book and a grim look on his face.

"Yes, she has been in our register since the first war. The Ministry itself maintains the protection of her residence; it is re-cast once every other year… "

"Is there any record of who might have put her name down on this list?" Harry asked.

"No… this is unusual. But it does say here that she had lost many of her family members in the war…" Mr Weasley forced his eyes to read the small words in the book.

"That sounds right. Thank you very much, Arthur. I'm going to renew and upgrade the protection of her residence now." Harry said, lowering his wand slightly. He was relieved that it was the Ministry who had made those wards; this meant that they were probably safe.

"Can we both go inside now? It's freezing out here," Annabel said while trying to dodge out of Harry's grip.

"Sure. I thought you would never invite me in!" Harry said, letting a smile come to his lips. Annabel rolled her eyes before she started to search for her keys. It was only then that she remembered.

"Harry! I lost my handbag at the museum!" she panicked. "My keys, my mobile phone, my agenda with all my clients details, my bankcards, my favourite umbrella…my life was in that bag!"

"Calm down, Bel! I'm sure I'll be able to recover it for you," Harry said, pointing his wand at her door. "Meanwhile, let's get inside and have a nice warm drink, shall we?"

"Sorry, but you are not invited to stay. I'm really late for an event that my company is organizing. It will be a miracle if we don't lose that client." She looked at her watch, worried.

"I'm so sorry, but I must insist that you invite me in. I'm here to increase the protection of your house after all, right? I promise that I won't be long, but I require access to the house," Harry said in a way that clearly showed that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Annabel decided that having him in for a few minutes wouldn't cause any harm and lead him and Holly to the kitchen. When they entered the room, a small terrier dog came running to greet them. Harry was reminded immediately of how one of the things that Annabel always wanted to have when she was a child was a dog. The animal looked very happy to them back on the house, as it was running in circles very quickly around them, waving his tail in excitement.

"Mummy, look! Daddy left us a message!" Holly pointed to a folded paper on top of the fridge.

Annabel walked to the place that the young girl was pointing and unfolded the message. Harry decided to keep a respectful distance from mother and daughter; however, he couldn't avoid examining the photographs that were on display on the fridge door. There was one of a younger Holly fishing with Geoffrey; one with Annabel dancing ballet with Holly; another one portraying the newly wedded couple holding and kissing their baby girl; there was also a more recent one with the couple and the girl on a beach. Harry felt his heart crumble. He could not suppress the thought yelling at him, telling him that if things had happened in a different way ... maybe if it hadn't been for that damn war, he'd be in one of those pictures holding his and Annabel's child. Almost immediately, he also felt a wave of guilt that invaded his mind. He could not have these thoughts - he was with Ginny now.

"It seems that Dad noticed that I was late and decided to save the day and cover me."

"Mum, what does that mean?"

"It means that Daddy has gone to work, and tonight, you are going to play with me instead!" Annabel looked very happy when she hugged her daughter and lifted her up in the air.

Harry couldn't help but smile when he saw the interaction between them. At the same time, being the witness of such familiar moment between the two made him feel a bit like an intruder in their nest. Although part of him didn't want to go and leave them alone, he deeply knew that the professional thing to do would be to finish his job as soon as possible and leave them to carry on living their lives.

"Looks like you'll have that drink after all, Harry. What would you like to have? Tea, coffee, ginger beer…?" Annabel offered him looking much more relaxed than she had been a few seconds before.

"I would love tea, thank you," he answered with a weak smile. "While you're here making the drinks, would you mind if I go around the house casting the protective spells? I promise I'll be through before you can spell the word abracadabra."

"That's fine with me. Milk and no sugar, right?" She managed to grab his attention before he disappeared from the kitchen.

"Well remembered," Harry said before stepping back into the dining room.

Harry knew the house very well, and he didn't need a guide to find his way through all the empty rooms. He carried on re-casting spell after spell in every single room of the house, though he wasn't very happy with the amount of protection that he could offer to them. Though the wards were slightly stronger than they had been prior to his visit, he knew that a skilled warlock could easily find the weak link on the walls that connected Bel's house to the one that belonged to her neighbours.

He was also limited by the fact that this was a Muggle home, and because of that, the type of spells and charms that he could use were also limited, as magic and Muggle electricity were never really a good combination. Making sure that the wards were strong enough and didn't interfere in the lifestyle of its inhabitants was something very valued by the Ministry these days. However, in the case of those nasty wizards deciding to attack them, they would be vulnerable until the Aurors' arrival.

"If only I could cast a Fidelius…at least in part of the house…" Harry thought to himself while he slowly started walking back to the kitchen.

The biggest problem with the Fidelius charm was that it concentrated strong enough magic to mess with the Muggle technology. Harry wasn't an expert with this particular spell, but he knew that it was possible to cast it in only a small part of the house, or even in one room alone. However, the Muggle electricity wouldn't work in the room where it would be cast, and possibly the rooms around it could also be affected.

Harry also knew that he couldn't perform this spell officially as an Auror, but he could do it as he was also a family friend. It was at this moment that his eyes glimpsed the cupboard under the stairs for the first time. Without thinking twice, he decided to open the door, which granted him entry to a space that was nothing more than a storage room. Harry noticed that it was considerably bigger than the one he had spent most of his childhood in, and it could, with a bit of difficulty, accommodate Annabel, Holly and Geoffrey.

Its location was also good, as the nearest rooms – the living room and the dining room – didn't seem to have any technology that would require electricity to work. Well, perhaps the stereo on the living room would suffer, but Harry thought that they probably would be able to survive for a few weeks without it.

After casting the spell, he went back to the kitchen where he found Annabel chopping an onion and Holly by her side, on top of a chair and playing happily with a piece of dough.

"Your tea is on the table. And I've lost the count of how many times I spelt abracadabra in my head!" she said without turning back to look at him. "Are we safe enough now?"

"Not as safe as I would like you two to be, but much safer than you were before my visit," Harry said before starting to drink his tea.

"We're making a quiche!" Holly said, showing him the piece of dough in her hand. "Do you want to make it with us?"

"Holly, my dear, I think that Harry is probably very busy! He has lots of work to finish at the museum…" Annabel stopped working for the first time and gave Harry a meaningful look, almost daring him to say the opposite.

"Unfortunately, your mother is right… maybe another time." Harry said returning the glare. "Before I leave you in peace, I'll need to explain a few things about the new wards I've set up on the house. Can you two please follow me to the living room?"

Annabel agreed with a nod and washed her and Holly's hands before going back to the living room with Harry and their daughter, although he wasn't privy to that information.

"I renewed and increased the power of the wards of this house, but it still has some weak spots, and a skilful wizard still can break in with some effort."

"What's the point of the wards then? If the house still vulnerable…"

"Well, this can buy us some time, as the Ministry and I would be alerted the moment someone tries to break through the wards. If someone attempts to break in, you are going to hear this noise." Saying this, Harry pointed his wand at the wall and cast a curse that resulted in a loud noise that made Annabel think that an ambulance had crashed through the walls of her house.

Holly hugged her mother, scared, and Annabel comforted her, rubbing her shoulders. Harry then waved his wand once again to end the noise.

"And how long would it take for someone from your Ministry to come here?" Annabel asked, looking genuinely worried for the first time. What would she do if that evil woman came back after them?

"One to two minutes, realistically speaking. It could take more time if it happened near dawn. However, you might have less time than that if you hear that noise. That's why I've decided to evoke a very powerful and ancient charm called a Fidelius. Unfortunately, I can't cast it on your entire house, but look to the stairs, can you see something missing?"

"The cupboard is not there!" Holly cleverly pointed out.

"Actually, the cupboard is still there; look at it again!" Harry said with a grin, watching as the door materialized in front of their eyes.

Holly looked completely fascinated, and Annabel seemed completely astonished.

"How did you do that?" the older woman asked him, ignoring the obvious answer.

"Magic!" he simply answered. "That's the old spell I told you about. Even if someone managed to invade your house, they won't be able to access that room, not even if they turn this house upside down. The only way that someone can find out about that door now is if I tell this someone about its existence."

"And how does this help us?" Annabel asked him, confused.

"It will keep you all safe if you stay inside there. That's why it is very important that both of you follow these instructions: at the first sign of that noise, stop everything you are doing, run to this cupboard, and stay there until I, or someone from my trust, get here and find you," Harry said seriously without looking away from her eyes. She held his gaze, understanding the importance of his instructions.

"How long would we have to get there?" she asked, feeling worried. The house wasn't small, after all.

"Twenty… maybe thirty seconds. I know it's not ideal, but I hope it will be enough to allow you and your family to get there safely." he said apologetically.

They stood in awkward silence for a while. Annabel started to realize that Harry was doing the best he could to ensure their safety. She finally started to see that maybe he had never really been aware of the fact that Holly was his biological daughter. Despite that, she still held some bitter feelings from being completely abandoned by him during the time that she had needed him the most. However, Annabel admitted, she also couldn't help but still nurture desire and attraction for the young Auror, which revived feelings that she had believed to have been buried a long time ago.

Harry also felt the re-emergence of those same feelings that were previously dormant like the eruption of a sleeping volcano. Those feelings were accompanied by guilt because both already were in new relationships. He also felt confused by the aversion that his ex-girlfriend seemed to have built against him. That didn't make much sense, since in his eyes, she had been the one who had decided not to wait for him and had started a new relationship.

"I had better go now," Harry said, breaking the silence after having another sip of tea. "Everyone is probably wondering why I am taking so long to come back to the museum. I had better return before they send a search party."

"Right. Let me see you to the door." Annabel walked beside Harry, leaving Holly behind.

"Thank you very much for the tea," he said, giving her back the mug as they neared the doorway. "It was nice to see you again."

"I…" She started to say something, but she decided against it. "It was nice to see you too."

"Is there anything you would like to tell me?" Harry said, catching her evasion.

"No," she said firmly.

"In that case… I better go then." He stepped outside but turned back before she closed the door. "You have a beautiful family, Bel."

"Thanks. Am I going to see you around?"

"Probably, yes. Take care, and say bye to Holly for me, okay?"

"Sure. Take care of yourself too."

Once Harry had stepped out of the wards he had settled earlier, Annabel watched him disappear from view.

Harry didn't notice, but Annabel wasn't the only person watching him disapparating back to the museum. Sheltered behind a black car on the other side of the street, Marco Bonanno watched Harry's departure with the help of a pair of omnioculars. The sight of the famous Auror leaving the Harrisons' residence made him annoyed. Nothing seemed to be working well for him that day. If there was one thing that Marc wasn't used to, it was for things not to go according to his plan.

Marc, as he preferred to be called, worked as the personal bodyguard and general of Dom Guiuseppe, the head of the Rizzottoni family. More than simply an ordinary old and ancient family, the Rizzottoni clan was famous for being one of The Sovereign Dozen.

The Sovereign Dozen was a group of families that, during the Ancient time, had ruled the world together. Known supporters and practitioners of what is nowadays called 'dark magic,' they used their special abilities without mercy to conquer the highest place in their society. It was an international alliance between ancient imperators, kings and queens, pharaohs, dictators, who lived in different parts of the globe. Once in power, they created this alliance which obliged them to help each other maintaining this power for many years to come.

Nowadays, they were nothing more than a myth. Over the course of time, some of the clans had been thought to have disappeared forever. Other clans still held to some of their old traditions and still honoured these alliances. The Rizzottoni clan was one of them. After being out of power for centuries, all of the families involved were hoping for a miracle that would put them back in control of the wizarding world once again.

Marco didn't know the details, but it was because of this hope that a glorious dark past would return that Dom Guiuseppe had sent him on this particular mission. The mission itself didn't seem very difficult: they had to verify that Harrison girl shared any blood ties with the famous Harry Potter, and if she did, kidnap her and bring her to Guiuseppe's personal care.

Ironically, the first part of the task, which he had thought would be the one to bring them the most trouble, was the easiest one. Infiltrating the Ministry and collecting Potter's genetic material had been easier than stealing candy from a Muggle kid. Doing the same with the girl had been more complicated, but they had still managed to get the young Kijun involved in the girl's ballet class, and the young man hadn't had any trouble doing his job after that.

After realizing that the girl was, in fact, Potter's offspring, they had decided that the easiest thing to do would be to wait until another ballet class. However, for some reason, the young girl didn't turn up to her lessons. The Harrisons' residence, cars, and even workplaces all had wards set up by the British Ministry of Magic. Despite the weakness of the wards, Marc didn't see the point of alerting that the muggle-born witch was missing. If the case were handled by the Muggle police, it wouldn't be hard for him to get them to ignore the incident, and maybe, given the right time, he could make her parents and neighbours forget the girl's existence as well.

Unfortunately, his plan of catching her in a public, un-warded place had failed the moment stupid Francesco had decided that firing a killing curse in the middle of a very crowded place was a good idea. The silly kid! He would have killed that douche bag if he wasn't a distant relative to Dom Guiuseppe himself. All the care he had taken to make that the girl would disappear from the map without raising any suspicion had been ruined by the ignorance of a teenage boy.

And if it couldn't get any worse, now he also had to deal with the death of one of Kijun Choi, who had been one of his best pupils. Mr Choi had been lent to the Rizzottoni family by the Yamimahōtsu-kai, the infamous Japanese clan, in a friendly gesture to renew their old alliance. And now, the young man's body was probably lying cold and lifeless somewhere being poked and prodded by damned Aurors. Marc could only hope that the Japanese clan didn't take the news of their adopted member too harshly.

Once Annabel had returned to the safety of her house, Marco decided to approach the house for better an analysis of the new wards that had clearly been placed. This was the last bit of damage that Francesco's stupidity would cost their mission. Or at least, that was what he thought.

* * *

It was already past ten o'clock in the evening when Carmen finally arrived back at their hiding place. Her magical disguise was still working, but she didn't look very happy. She entered the small living room completely ignoring the two wizards who were sitting at the table analyzing some parchments while having dinner. Not recognizing the woman in disguise, the younger wizard started to draw his wand, but he was prevented by a gesture from the older wizard to stay calm.

"Those filthy Muggles! I can't believe that I had to come back to this place using their methods of transportation," Carmen said more to herself than to the men in the room. "Trinx! Where is that stupid elf when we need it?!"

"Did Mistress called Trinx?" The small female elf appeared in a pop.

"Prepare me a bath. I need to disinfect myself of this nasty Muggle smell."

"Of course, Milady!" And the elf disappeared as quickly as she had arrived.

She threw her coat on the sofa, and only then did she turn her attention to the men who had been watching her in silence since her entrance.

"What are you looking at? Have you lost something?" she asked in a voice full of disdain.

"Good evening to you too, Carmen. Did you get tired of your looking at your own face in the mirror? Is that why you decided to change your appearance? I can sympathize with that, as I'm becoming quite sick of having to look at you too," Marc said sarcastically.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Bonanno," Carmen said in a tone that showed that she had found his comment anything but funny. "I see that not even the confirmation of your incompetence after the complete failure of the museum operation can kill your mood."

"You know yourself that I had everything under control until that noob head decided to screw everything up," Marc answered her, pointing to the man next to him.

"I'm right here! I can understand what you're saying. Ho capito, va bene?" the young man said, furrowing his brow.

"What I know is that you failed, and you failed badly," Carmen said, looking into Marc's blue eyes, completely ignoring the comment of the younger man. "You have been defeated by a four-year-old girl. I mean, really?" Carmen said provocatively.

Marc had to take a deep breath before carrying on with the exchange of compliments.

"From here, I can see that I'm not the only one who has been beaten up by a four-year-old. What happened to your eyes? Have you been Muggle street-fighting somewhere?" he asked, full of malice.

The memory of being whipped by the Muggle woman was enough to take Carmen over the edge.

"What insolence! I should cut your tongue out, Bonanno!" she growled.

"I'm not one of your little slaves, Carmen; I thought you knew that. Besides, why didn't you fix your face? Have you forgotten how to perform a simple healing spell?"

"You'd better shut up! Don't you know who I am? What I represent?" she exclaimed, full of rage.

"Of course I know who you are, _Milady_. What I don't understand is what the hell you are doing here. I get that you want to be involved in Dom Guiuseppe's newest project, but still… why do you insist on risking your precious, soft skin doing the dirty work when you can easily send some of your loyal vassals to represent your clans?"

"The way I decide to rule my empire is not any of your business," she said, helping herself to a glass of wine. "However, as soon I get back to the States, I'm going to have a little word with Guiuseppe about how he is controlling his. He is getting old, and he might be having trouble seeing the pathetic wizard you are…"

"Feel free to spread your venomous words on the black falcon as much as you like," Marc said calmly. "He knows exactly what kind of person you are. And if he does tolerate your friendship, it's because the military alliances your families share."

"If you also knew the kind of person I am, you would know that staying here and throwing provocations at me might not bode well for your health," Carmen snarled at him.

"Thank you for the advice, but I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Or so you think." She let an evil smile escape her lips. "Now, if you would please excuse me, I'm going to have my bath."

"As happy as I'll be to would see you disappearing down that corridor, I must briefly inform you about our change of plans." Marc changed his voice from provocative to a neutral, professional one. "I've seen Potter leaving their house just after we managed to outfit the Aurors that were on our tail."

"Was he enjoying the joys of fatherhood?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, I don't believe that he's made the connection yet. For some reason, the Muggle has decided to stay quiet. But Potter renewed the wards, and even though they're still not strong enough to prevent us breaking in. I doubt he would leave them vulnerable like this if anyone from the Ministry suspected we were after the girl."

"So, what's your next stupid plan then?" she kept her sarcastic tone.

"We try again, sooner than later. Perhaps just after the Aurors' next change of shift. I would imagine that they probably had to call in extra people to work this afternoon, so they might be very under-staffed this evening. I reckon it won't take long before someone with brains will realize the connection between Potter and the girl… we must do it before they are put under the Ministry's full protection scheme."

"Well, I hope you break your neck, Bonanno!" Carmen smirked full of malice.

"You talking like that makes me wonder if you really want this mission to succeed…"

"I don't want the mission to fail. I just hope you succumb to a painful death while trying to accomplish it. After all, it was because of your immense failure in capturing the four-year-old that I, unfortunately, had to poison myself with this squib curse potion in order to disguise from the bloody Aurors. Somehow, those bastards ended up getting hold of my real name" she said.

"I doubt they will manage to find any connection with whom you are Carmen; they have far too many leads to track down before starting to look for connections between the Muggles who were present at that attack and ancient wizarding families from abroad."

* * *

It was half-past midnight, and Harry was back at his flat having dinner with his two best friends. Kreacher had been very kind by making them this very late dinner for them. They were all very hungry and tired after what had been one of the top five most chaotic days that the Ministry had faced after the war.

Even though she wasn't an Auror, Hermione also worked at the Ministry in the Office of Misinformation, which was part of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She had been requested to help out at the museum accident that day, helping create a convincing story with Muggle-worth reasons and excuses. Also, her previous experiences during the war and her general encyclopedic knowledge were very valid in a problematic situation like that.

"I still can't believe that I've lost my wand!" Ron said after eating another sausage. "Now I'll need to carry on using this piece of shit." He pointed to the wand that had previously belonged to Bellatrix and that Hermione still held in her possession.

"Language, Ronald!" Hermione scolded her fiancé. "Seriously, at least you have a wand that works perfectly fine. And if you still find it difficult to control, you can always go to Olivander's and get yourself a new one."

"Oh yes, as if I would trust that young girl who took over the shop since Olivander decided to retire," Ron said sarcastically.

"Honestly, Ron! I've heard that she is actually very good at it! She was the top Hogwarts student in her year, and she is only two years younger than we are!" Hermione tried to make him see reason.

"Whatever… I still don't trust her abilities."

Hermione was about to answer him back when Harry decided to interrupt the discussion before escalated even further.

"I really hope that we catch those guys before Ron needs to worry about buying a new wand. I don't think they accomplished whatever they were after today, and I don't believe that they will give up easily."

"I heard that the man who died in combat with the Aurors from Dawlish's team's identity was confirmed. Apparently, he was Japanese, but for some reason, he had completed his magical education at Ilvermorny in the United States," Hermione informed the group.

"I've heard a little bit about it," Harry said. "Ron, do you know when the de-briefing meeting is going to be?"

"I don't think they've decided it yet. Kingsley wanted it to be done this weekend, but Robards wants it done during the week. He said that it's not enough time for all the paperwork to be done." Ron answered him.

"Well, this shows us what we have to look forward to this weekend." Harry sighed. "I'm not happy that I won't be able to take Teddy to that game… I've been promising it to him for an entire month."

"I'm sure he will understand if you explain the reasons. He's a sweet boy," Hermione said with compassion.

"Ginny is also going to be pissed off with you mate. She has being complaining that you have being working too hard and don't spend as much time with her as you used to," Ron added.

"Thanks for making me feel better, Ron," Harry said sarcastically while Hermione rolled her eyes. "But changing the subject again, did any of you hear about a woman's handbag found somewhere at the crime scene? Annabel told me that she lost hers…"

"Oh yeah, I think that someone found a bag… I think a witness saw a woman hitting one of the transgressors with a handbag seconds before they cast the killing curse," Ron answered him casually.

"Do you think that the bag could be Annabel's?" Harry asked him worriedly.

"I don't know…" Ron answered him, considering the possibility. "The bag was found very late; I don't think it's been analyzed yet … I believe that's in Savage's care."

"God, I hope it's not her bag! If it was her who hit those men with the bag, it could mean that she's in bigger danger than I thought she was."

"Calm down Harry; she would have told us if she had done something like that." Hermione tried to calm her friend.

"Yes… she probably would have." Harry said slowly. "Though… she was behaving so… strangely whenever she was around me today… I don't know… more than once I was under the impression that she wasn't telling me something important."

"I kinda felt the same…" Hermione reasoned. "Maybe… I don't know… have you paid attention to her little girl's eyes, Harry?"

"Hum… I guess they were green?" Harry answered, clueless as to where his best friend was trying to lead the topic.

"Her eyes were exactly like yours, Harry!" Hermione words made Harry raise an eyebrow. "As was her nose… and her hair was exactly the same shade of yours!"

"Hermione, what are you trying to say?" Harry asked, a bit scared of her answer.

"Well… I mean, she's even a witch! I know that Muggleborns aren't that uncommon, but you must agree that it would be too much of a coincidence for Annabel's daughter to be a witch."

"Hermione, you are not trying to imply that Harry could be…" Ron said but was unable to finish his sentence.

"Well, I counted, and according to her age, he could well be…" Hermione addressed Ron's suspicions.

"I could be what?" Harry burst, frustrated and not wanting to believe what he thought his friends were trying to imply.

"Harry, you did sleep with her before you went into hiding with us, didn't you?" Hermione asked, ignoring Harry's questions.

"Yes… but it was only once, and she assured me that she was taking a Muggle pill…" Harry answered her, feeling a bit embarrassed. Despite them being his best friends, Harry usually didn't discuss his sex life with them. This was in part because he dated Ron's younger sister, and in part because hearing his two best friends talking about their own sex life that they shared together would be beyond awkward.

"The pill's effect could easily be nullified if you had provoked accidental magic to do so…"

"Hermione, don't you think that I would have felt if I had done some accidental magic?" Harry asked, blushing slightly.

"Well, it was your first time, wasn't it? You could have been too nervous or too excited to notice anything," Hermione insisted.

"Don't you think that the Ministry would have contacted me if I have done any form of accidental magic?"

"Maybe they were too busy doing other things… The Ministry was in chaos after Dumbledore's death." Ron reminded.

"No… no… it can't be. Holly is the daughter of that git of her ex-brother, whatever he was…" Harry denied. "I saw them talking about their daughter when I tried to contact her after the war… he was proposing to her and everything!"

"Oh Harry, you never told us! That's why you were so broody and depressed, hiding from the world after you went to meet with her." Hermione remind herself of their talk when Harry had been declared missing or dead by the papers.

"Pretty much," Harry answered her honestly. "But thankfully I have very good friends who helped me recover from that."

"Anyway, I think we should test it, just to make sure that she is not your daughter, Harry," she said, taking a vial from her bag. Harry saw that it contained some hair inside.

"Hermione, you didn't!" Harry said in shock. It wasn't the first time that he had seen his best friend breaking the rules to help him out, but for some reason, seeing her do it again still impressed him.

"Yes, I took some hair from Holly when you went to have that private talk with Annabel. Sorry, but there were too many coincidences for me to ignore," Hermione said, embarrassed by her own attitude.

Harry stayed silent, thinking about all the evidence that his friends had pointed out. If the girl was, in fact, his daughter, it would mean that he had left Annabel unprotected and alone to deal with an unplanned pregnancy while he went off to hunt Voldemort's Horcruxes with Ron and Hermione. It also would mean that he had missed more than four years of his daughter's life; worse than that, it could mean that they, in connection to him, could actually be the reason that gang had broken into the museum; after all, his list of enemies was still very high.

"Just do it, mate," Ron told him with a friendly tap on his shoulders. "It's better to know the truth now than carry on living with the doubt…"

Harry agreed with a nod and handed some of his own hair to Hermione's hand. She stood up and moved a bit further away from her friends. She then prepared her wand, keeping both Harry's and Holly's hair together on the kitchen countertop. She had never performed this spell, but she knew that it wasn't a complicated one.

"Mauris Paternitas," Hermione said in a low voice. Immediately, a strong blue light touched both hair strands, causing them to merge into only one. Their suspicions had been confirmed. Hermione and Harry exchanged a meaningful glance. He had seen the spell being performed before a couple of times. He knew that it could only mean one thing…

"Oh Harry!" exclaimed Hermione, who promptly left her spot and went to where Harry was standing to hug her friend.

He hugged her back, still not believing what had just happened. He was a father. He and Annabel had a daughter together… a beautiful four-year-old girl. Holly! That was her name. It was too much for him to take in; he couldn't stop shaking with emotion. Ron watched the scene from the dining table, his jaw dropped with shock.

"I… I need to go to their house… I… need to see Holly and Annabel again." Harry mumbled on Hermione's ear.

"Harry, it's almost one in the morning! They are probably sleeping now… besides, tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Actually, we should all go to bed," Hermione tried to persuade him.

"Hermione, do you really believe that I will be able to simply go to bed and sleep after learning that I have a daughter?" Harry answered, offended by her suggestion. "Besides… the wards I've put around their house are those that allow Muggle technology to work; you know that they aren't strong enough…"

"Mate, I hate saying this, but Hermione is right. I can't even imagine what you are feeling right now, but I'm sure that this can wait until tomorrow…"

"I can't believe that none of you can see it!" Harry passed his hand through his hair in despair. "They are in danger! Don't you think that it's too much of a coincidence that they were at the museum during the attack? Neville told me that Annabel had been tortured with the Cruciatus yesterday… they were after her and my daughter!"

"Harry, your theory does make sense, but why would they be after them? What would they gain from it? Everybody knows that you are with Ginny now, and until a second ago, you didn't even know that you had a daughter! Don't you think that you are being a little bit paranoid? I mean… if they wanted to get them, why attack them in a museum? Why not go after them at their own house?" Ron argued.

"The house had wards; weak wards, but still wards. The Ministry would be informed if a wizard tried to break in… no! That's also why they didn't go to her school either! Every school in Britain that has students younger than sixteen has magical wards on it; it's common sense. Everything is so clear now! They needed to get them in a public place… using very little or no magic! That's the only way they could do it unnoticed," Harry said, walking impatiently from one room corner to the other.

"Ok, Harry… let's say you were right, and these people were after Holly and Annabel. What would be their next step now?" Hermione asked him.

"I don't know… but right now I hate the idea of having them so vulnerable in that house," Harry answered her honestly. "If anything happens to them I'll never…"

However, he never got to finish because he was interrupted by a flashing light and a loud noise coming from his watch. He immediately went pale. Both of his friends knew what it meant.

"Where is the attack, Harry?" Ron asked him straightaway.

_"Annabel and Holly's house"_


	19. Fight Overnight

When the loud alarm Harry had set earlier on went off at the home of Annabel and Holly, warning that they two were very likely to be in great danger, they were in a deep sleep on the coach at the TV room. The Disney DVD that mother and daughter fell asleep watching, began to get totally uncontrolled; vertical black lines started to slide on the screen, flashing scenes upside down and changing the colour of the main characters. Neither of them knew that, but muggle technology behaving in extraordinary form like that, was the second hint that a powerful magic was being performed well near that place.

But none of them needed this second notice since both vividly kept in memory the scenes of terror they had experienced only a few hours before. Harry's warning also immediately sprang into Annabel's head. She quickly glanced at the clock on the wall and knew that Geoffrey probably had not come back home yet. It was only the two of them. "_The cupboard under the stairs_" - she remembered Harry's advice - "_I need to put Holly inside the cupboard under the stairs_" she repeated several times mentally as she dashed down the stairs with the young girl on her shoulders.

As soon she walked inside the door where she hoped they both would be safe, a cracking sound announced that somebody had managed to break in their wards – but again neither of them knew that. Because the cupboard was too small for letting her standing on her feet, Annabel ended up sitting down in a corner with Holly safely on her lap.

"Mummy… what was that noise?" Holly asked hugging her mother tighter.

"Shush…"

"Mummy, I'm scared!"

"Shush!" Annabel placed her index finger to her lips, firmly asking for silence. After all, she wasn't completely certain if Harry's magic would be able to hide any sound that they could make from inside the small cupboard. It certainly didn't avoid noisy from it is outside getting to their ears, as they could clearly hear the barking of an angry dog coming from upstairs.

"Mummy, we forgot to bring Lola with us!" the little girl whimpered scared by their dog's safety.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she will be all right…" Annabel whispered trying to convince herself at the same time she tried to calm down her daughter.

However, the dog's noisy got louder and so did Holly's panic. The little girl stood up and immediately tried to reach the door.

"Where do you think you are going, little Miss?" Annabel forgot about keeping her voice low and grabbed the girl just in time to avoid her opening the door of their enchanted safe room.

"Lola needs me, mom! She is there alone with that bad people!" the girl said while she tried to get out of her mother's grip.

"You are not going anywhere!" Annabel said firmly. "If there are some bad people up there, it's another reason for you to stay right where you are!"

But the girl did not seem keen to accept her logical explanation. Instead, she tried even harder to get out the cupboard under the stairs. Annabel probably would have kept things under control if her daughter wasn't a kid full of magical powers. Once Holly felt that her mother wouldn't let her go by good, the four-year-old decided to cry loudly and throw a fit. Not an ordinal muggle fit – but a magical fit. The cupboard started to shake as if there was a strong earthquake inside it; at the same time, some of the things that were usually kept inside the cupboard were set on fire. Anna knew that it was all Holly's doing, after all, it hasn't been the first time that she had to deal with the young Madam throwing a magical fit before. But it had never happened at such a crucial moment, where people who were trying to kill both of them were probably inside their house.

"Stop Holly! I said _STOP_!" Annabel demanded, but the girl ignored her and continued her crying whining and made the quantity of fire increase.

Being a muggle she couldn't simply wave her wand to put an end to Holly's uncontrolled primitive magic. Everything she could do was to deal with the whining girl on the muggle way, but at that moment she was too scared to do so.

Her lack of knowledge of magic also didn't help, as one of her fears was that Holly's power would somehow end up showing their whereabouts to whoever was trying to magically break in their place. The memories of what she had gone through earlier on were still livid on her mind, and she couldn't risk exposing her little girl to these bad people again. Not even if it meant she had to succumb to emotional blackmail of her small child.

"OK, I will go and get Lola, but you need to stop!"

It was like Annabel had said some sort of magical word, because the cupboard stopped shaking immediately, as well it belongs were no longer on fire. If her knowledge of witchcraft was better, maybe she would have wondered if Holly's powers were really that uncontrolled as she thought they were.

"Mummy, can I go with you?"

"No, you stay here. I need you to promise me that you'll stay here no matter what happens outside this room."

The girl seemed reluctant, but she eventually agreed with a nod.

Before leaving the safety of the cupboard under the stairs, Annabel decided to peek through the keyhole. The room seemed to be completely deserted and silent. No dog's noise could be heard, and for a brief moment, she considered the possibility that it could have been a false alarm. But the reminder of the pain caused by the Cruciatus curse was enough for her to take it seriously.

"Do not leave this room before I came back and say it's OK for you to leave, do you understand me, Holly?"

The girl nodded once more, and Annabel took a deep breath before she slowly opened the door that led to the hall and locking the girl behind her. She sharpened her audition to catch any suspicious movement on the surroundings but everything seemed to be normal.

Annabel decided that the best thing to do would be to go upstairs, where she thought that Lola's barking had come from. So she climbed the stairs, putting into use some silent walking techniques learned in ballet many years ago. She was about to start going to the second floor when the noise of heavy steps coming down, made her slide into the nearest room from the place she was. It was her mother's old office, now used mostly as Geoffrey study room. Because of the open door, she decided to seek shelter hiding under the old oak desk, where for her surprise, she found her dog Lola, who was being unusually quiet.

"Francesco, your useless piece of shit! Why are taking so long? Aurors are going to be here in less than a minute!" Annabel heard a strong male voice shouting from two floors above her saying these words.

"Your plan has failed! hai fallito, Capitano! The house is empty." Another male voice shouted back inches away from the door from the room that she was hiding.

The closeness of the second man, made her instinctively sought the old work gun that used to belong her mother. Annabel remembered that her mother used to keep it in a false compartment of the third drawer. To Annabel's surprise, the handgun was still kept in the same place. At the same time she put her hands on the gun, she heard the voice of the man that was further away, saying nonsense words in an ancient language. 'This must be a spell' she thought, and almost instantly she felt like something was swooping low over her.

The wizard that was standing next to her mother old office hastily entered the room and suddenly she was certain that both men knew exactly where she was hiding. Without thinking twice, she stood up, unlocked and pointed the pistol at the young blond man, but she held fire. He, who was also pointing his wand to her direction, laughed with the sight of Annabel holding a charged pistol pointed to his face.

"Ragazza stupida! Do you think that your muggle toy can save you?" Said the man who seemed to had just become of age, while he grinned and played with his wand between his fingers.

Annabel was shaking with fear of what that man could do to her, but she was also determined to not let it happen. She closed her eyes at the same time she pulled the trigger and fired the gun several times in his direction. When she dared to open her eyes again, her jaw dropped when she found out that not only the wizard was standing in front of her without a single scratch, but he had ever single bullet she had fired on his direction floating in the air, few inches from his face.

"Now it's my turn!" He smirked and pointed his wand in her direction.

Without saying a single word, he made all the bullets fly to where she was standing at the same time. Annabel ordered her body to move, but it felt like she had lost the control of her muscles. Even blinking was impossible, let alone dodge the bullets. She then felt a mighty calm and prepared to embrace death when a small terrier dog jumped in front of her and took the whole impact of the shots.

"LOLA!" She felt the words escaping her lips and as if by magic Annabel felt like she had recovered the ability to move her legs once again.

The young woman rushed to the spot in front of the desk where her dog was lying motionless. Ignoring the danger that she was in, Annabel bent down her knees and hugged the lifeless animal. The teenager wizard calmly walked into the room and stood just in front of her.

"Shame. I don't like killing animals."

Annabel was taken aback by the sinister revelation that man had done. Someone who wouldn't think twice before killing her, but would avoid doing the same with an animal, seemed in her eyes, at least to be a disturbed being. She slowly stood up to be at the same eye level that he was. They were not more than a meter apart when she finally asked:

"What do you want?"

"Tua figlia. Give me your daughter and nobody else will die tonight."

It was Annabel turn to laugh.

"You must be kidding if you think I will give her to you"

"Do you think you have a choice?" he raised his eyebrows and pointed his wand in her direction for the third time that night. "IMPERI…"

But he never got to finish to pronouncing the spell, because a red jet of light hit right on his cheek, made his body to be pulled against one of the bookshelves of the room. Annabel looked to the door and saw Hermione Granger standing on the doorway with a deadly glare in her face.

"HARRY, RON, SHE IS HERE!" Hermione screamed over her shoulders.  
This definitely wasn't the cleverest move done by Hermione, as the wizard she had knocked down wasn't unconscious as she had expected him to be. The wizard took this on his advantage and fired some purple lights towards Hermione direction while she shouted her position to her friends.

"CAREFUL!"

Annabel, screamed trying to alert her. The warning made Hermione turn to face the muggle woman, and the curse that had been sent directly to the back of her head, end up hitting the hand the witch used to hold her wand. Hermione looked surprised when her hand started to bleed immediately. The wizard then fired another curse which despite her sour hand, Hermione managed to block. It was then that both Harry and Ron entered the room throwing curses at the unknown wizard, who was firing some other curses back.

The first thing that Harry did when he entered the room, was to raise a magical shield and go to the corner of the room where Annabel had gone in order to try to stay away from their magical fight. The young woman had sat down on the floor, where she was protecting her head with both her arms.

"Let's take you away from here," Harry said offering her his free hand to help her up.

She did not argue and accepted his help without batting. Ron and Hermione carried on duelling against the wizard while Harry focused all his energy to remove Annabel from the office without neither of them gets hit by the flashing lights that were been hit everywhere around the room. Once they both were out the office, Harry pointed his wand to that room's door and whispered another couple of Latin words that Annabel had never heard before.

"What are you doing?" Annabel asked Harry just before he finished casting the last spell on the room. She noticed that they were still holding hands, but she didn't make an effort to get rid his tight grip.

"Making sure that they don't get any backup. Now only Aurors and top officials from the Ministry of Magic can trespass through that door; as far as I know, that guy might have brought some friends with him tonight…"

"I guarantee that he did. I've heard at least another man's voice coming from the cellar. I think he was the boss."

With that revelation. Harry increased the strength of his shield and brought Annabel closer to his chest. He started to slowly take her down the stairs, but he kept his wand ready as if expecting an attack at any time.

"Where is Holly?" The Auror asked concerned.

"She is…" Annabel tried to say 'inside the cupboard under the stairs', but for some weird reason, she bit her tongue and the words wouldn't come out.

"I get it." Harry seemed to understand what she was trying to say, but he did not look very pleased. "And why on Earth are you not there with her?"

"Have you ever tried to control a four-year-old witch having no magical powers yourself? No, you haven't! And I tell you what…"

But Harry never heard what she wanted to tell him because at this moment he spotted a spell that had been cast towards their direction. He knew that it was one of the Unforgivables, and he knew that his shield would be useless, so he pushed Annabel to the ground making she roll down the stairs and end up taking the blow in her place.

Annabel cried from the shock of being thrown on the floor, but Harry couldn't hear her screams. The calm and peace caused by Imperio curse were trying to control his mind, but it wouldn't be for very long. Harry heard the order 'Say where the little girl is hiding', coming from inside his head, however instead of obeying it, he pointed his wand to the spot where his aggressor was hiding and clearly said 'Expeliarmus'.

The bald wizard was standing on top of the stairs, raised one eyebrow in a sign of surprise, before easily block the spell. Harry who was finally free from the Imperio Curse, looked over his shoulders and his eyes meet Annabel's, who was trying hard to standing up. She looked horribly injured as he could see that blood was dripping from her forehead.

"Hide!" Harry commanded before he raised his wand to block three curses that were sent in his direction.

With some difficult, Annabel got up and ran to the cupboard under the stairs. She slammed the door with such an urge, that she almost knocked her daughter who had been trying to see what was going on by spying on the doorknob. When the door was shut and they were alone, Annabel hugged her little girl so tight that the child almost couldn't breathe.

"Mummy, mummy! What's going on? Where is Lola?" Holly asked fearing the answer.

Annabel slowly loosened the hug and sat down placing Holly on her lap. After noticing that her mother's face was bleeding, the four-year-old girl placed her tinny hands on her injury.

"Mummy, are you ok? Where is Lola?"

Bel took a deep breath before open her mount.

"Lola is…" But the words didn't leave her lips.

She didn't want Holly to know that Lola had died protecting her; she didn't want Holly to know about the two fights that were going on inside their house. Especially because that deep inside she knew that if she had been a hundred percent honest with Harry earlier, maybe this wouldn't be happening.

"If I only had told your father about it…" Annabel whined to herself.

"Mummy, what you should have told dad?" Holly asked confused.

"Oh, Holly! This is all my fault! If anything happens to us… or to Harry…" She hugged the girl with all her might and silent tears start to run on her pale face.

Holly felt that her mother was very sad to say anything and remained quiet on her lap. While they both waited, they smelled wood been burned, heard noises of glass being shattered, various explosion noises and then it felt like there were about twenty people talking on their living room. Annabel carried on crying in silence for the whole time, not daring to move or to say anything else. After what seemed to be long hours, but that actually were less than ten minutes, a bushy-haired woman entered their hideout place after gently knock on the door.

"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger, we meet earlier today." The witch said after she squeezed herself inside the small cupboard.

"Where is Harry?" Annabel's heart was beating fast afraid of the young woman's answer.

"Don't worry, Harry is fine. He is talking to the Minister now. He asked me to take both of you to a safer place."

"I need to talk to him first. Please, it's really important!" Annabel's watery eyes crossed with Hermione's concerned face.

"I know. Harry wants to talk to you too, but believe me, this is not the right place for it. Your house is full of Aurors and Ministry officials. Privacy is a thing that you won't be allowed to have in here."

Annabel started to open the door, but Hermione stopped her.

"I thought you said we were going to leave the house..."

"Yes, we will, but by magical means."

That said, Hermione got an empty bucket that was kept in the corner of the cupboard, placed it between her, Holly and Annabel.

"I'm going to make you a portal key. It's a very simple way of Magical teletransportation."

The adult witch said before pointing her wand to the bucket and whisper '_Portus_', making the object to glow in an odd blue colour.

"Just think of this as a game," Hermione said in a playful voice to Holly. "We need to make sure that the three of us touch this bucket at the same time."

* * *

"Hide!" Harry commanded before he raised his wand to block three curses that were sent in his direction.

Once he blocked all the curses, Harry conjured a magical wall between him and the mysterious wizard. More than attacking his opponent, Harry wanted to buy time to ensure that Annabel entered the hiding place that he had got protected earlier, without giving the other man a chance of getting to know where it was located.

"Very clever move, Mr Potter. You did Fidelius, right? And I'm guessing that you are not going to tell me the girl whereabouts by your own accord. _Incedio Crepitus_."

Due to the strong fire explosion, Harry was forced to retreat downstairs. He was relieved to realize that Annabel was no longer laying in the hallway. Part of the staircase had started to burn when the Auror then decided to walk toward the living room, but before releasing a 'Sectusempra' towards the evildoer who easily blocked the spell before quickly walking toward the room that Harry was.

"I don't remember seeing you among Voldemort little pets." Harry grunted before had to raise his wand to block another set of curses that had been fired in his direction.

"It's because I never was Voldemort's little pet, kiddo."

Harry's eyes opened wide in shock to hear the man calling Voldemort by his name. He certainly didn't seem to be a Death Eater, because they always preferred to use the term Dark Lord. Due to this brief moment of inattention, Harry ended up not focusing on his shield and ended up having to physically dodge a curse at the last moment. The curse ended up hitting the glass cabinet behind him which was shattered into a thousand hundred pieces. Harry decided to take advantage of his own mistake by transfiguring the broken glass into sharpen small daggers and sent them on his opponent, who managed with a wave from his wand, transform the daggers into sand before they hit his skin.

Then the wrongdoer started walking in large steps toward the kitchen. Harry fired several curses on his direction, but the wizard blocked all attempts without turning to face the Auror.

"Who are you? What do you want with my daughter?"

Harry asked full of range when he noticed that the man was busy removing some of the protective charms that he had placed at Annabel's house earlier. The young Auror decided to fire another set of curses, but the man calmly got a second wand from his pocket and blocked his attempts without stopping working on the removal of the protective charms. Harry was astonished. Not only that man knew how to duel with two wands – he dominated that technique better than anyone else Harry had seen using it.

"After tonight it will be very easy for you to find out who I am. I'm not going to ease your homework, kiddo."

"_Stop calling me that!_" Harry shouted before he lost his temper and sent a Cruciatus Curse on the man. Only Sirius had ever called him that way, and he hated to hear it from the mount of the man who was trying to kidnap his daughter.

The man dodged the curse and raised one eyebrow surprised with the behaviour of the famous Auror.

"Now, about your daughter Mr Potter…" The man stopped and thought for a moment before smirking at Harry. "Good luck with this riddle!"

And in a blink of an eye, the man pointed his two wands toward the kitchen window, and suddenly he flew towards it as if he was being sucked into a giant vacuum cleaner. Everything the happened very fast - the wizard quickly left hovering through the window and apparated when he was flying over Annabel's neighbour's property. Harry jumped through the window and walked to the place where the man had just disappeared, willing to follow his trail by using a very handy spell that allowed him to know where the last person who apparated in half a mile had gone or, from where they had come from.

However, just before Harry got the chance to perform the spell, he noticed that a bunch of wizards from the Ministry were apparating on the garden of houses next to the one that Annabel and Holly lived. 'Bloody hell! He planned everything horrendously well', Harry bitterly thought before he saw Kingsley and Gawain apparating just few meters from the spot where he was, both of them wearing pyjamas.

"Harry! Did you catch them? How many were they? Any deaths?" Gawain urgently asked as he started to walk towards the house. Harry and the Ministry followed him closely.

"Mr Robards, Minister!" A senior Auror interrupted their talk "Weasley and I are going to do conduct the magical autopsy on that wizard who died upstairs. Do you want to be present?"

"I thought that no deaths had happened here tonight Harry…" Gawain Robards inquired the young Auror.

"Well, I must have missed this one when I was trying to arrest the other wizard."

"We definitely want to be present on the magical autopsy, Davis. Harry, please get Mrs and Miss Harrison ready. I want to collect their testimony next." Kingsley said before he and Gawain started to follow the other Auror.  
Harry sighed. He knew that collet those witness testimonies was very important, but he needed to talk to Annabel before that. He needed to see and hug Holly, now with the knowledge that he was her father. It was then that he spotted Hermione sitting on the sofa, with her hand soaked inside a bowl with some green liquid in it.

"Hey, Mione! Was it hard to put that one down?"

"Who listens to you talking like that will think that we killed him!"

"I heard he is dead…"

"Yes, but we didn't kill him! After a while, we got him immobilized, but then the creepiest thing happened. A very rare venomous smoke came out his mount; it's luck that I knew what it was, otherwise maybe me and Ron would also be… never mind. Where are Annabel and Holly, did you managed to get them to a safe place?"

Harry lowered his voice before speak again.

"Look to the stairs."

And she stretched her neck to be able to see it.

"Can you see the cupboard under the stairs?" Harry asked, and Hermione's face went from extreme confusion to a happy state that she used to be ever time she got points for Gryffindor.

"Fidelius Charm! _Genius_, Harry!"

"I really need to talk to them before they get summoned for hours to speak with Ministry officials. Please Hermione, I know that you already have broken the rules for me this evening. But you know, it's not every day that these things happen..."

Hermione smiled understanding what he wanted her to do.

"I agree. I can't believe that you are the father of that lovely beautiful girl!"

"Me neither. I… I guess that it will take time for the news to sink in."

"Right." And she stood up after removing her hand from the bowl and made it disappeared with a wave from her wand. "I'm taking them to your place. But listen, don't tell Kingsley about my part on this. I'm not the '_Chosen One_', and you know that I have ambition to become the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement one day."

* * *

"Harry, I know that you are the biggest hero from the Wizarding World, but what you did was to disobey a direct order given from the Minister of Magic! You can't just do that and expect to do this and get away with it." Gawain Robards sternly told Harry off.

"Gawain, if you could please leave this to me." Kingsley placed a hand on the shoulders of the Head of Auror's Squad. "Harry, is there any strong reason for you disobey my request, and take both of them out of this house?"

"Yes, there is a reason." Harry impatiently adjusted his glasses.

"And would you mind sharing those reasons with us?" The Minister was also starting to lose his usually very calm temper.

"No, I don't mind sharing it, but it needs to be done in a private place. I can't risk spreading the news just yet."

The young Auror lead them to the small room where he had stayed as a guest on the girl's house many years ago. The room remained very similar to what it used to be, the only difference was that now he could see a pile of toys scattered on the floor. Before say anything Harry went to the door and whispered a couple of privacy spells.

"Firstly I need both of you to promise me that everything I say here, will stay between the three of us at least until the debriefing meeting of the case."

The two men stare at each other but eventually agreed with a nod.

"Both of you know that I had a relationship with Annabel, the now Mrs Harrison, in the past, right?"

"I thought I heard you saying that this had not to do with your love life…" The Head of the Auror Squad crossed his arms in annoyance.

"It's complicated." Harry sighed "There is no other way to say this, so I better go straight to the point. The girl is my daughter."

"Merlin's beard! You kept this secret well, Potter" Gawain jaw dropped. The Minister placed his index finger on his chin in a thoughtful way.

"Listen, I did not know that until minutes before those men break in this house. I would never have left them so vulnerable if I knew it. After I talked to Ron and Hermione, I decided to do an unofficial paternity test, just to get rid of the doubt – and it was positive."

"This is illegal. I could have you suspended Harry! You should have done the standard procedure within the Ministry of Magic, after requesting permission from the girl's mother…" Gawain told him off again.

"Yes, I know that what I did not follow the protocol, but I had to know the truth!" Harry sharply "And now that we know that Holly is my daughter, you both can see that many of the questions we had about the Museum's case are automatically answered."

"You telling us that you believe that they went there to get the girl?" The Minister said in a serious tone.

"No, I'm assuring you that they went there, and came here to get her. The proof was that bald man asked me to reveal her location when he hit me with the Imperio Curse."

"You fought the Imperio Curse?" Gawain said impressed.

"Why would they want to get her if you didn't know about the girl's existence a few minutes ago?" The Minister said ignoring the question made by the Head of the Auror Squad.

"This is one of the many pieces of the puzzle that still does not fit. And Gawain, I fought my first Imperio when I was a fourth-year student at Hogwarts..."

"That's impressive! It usually takes decades and a great deal of dedication for one to be able to do it, did you know that, Potter?" Gawain tapped Harry on the shoulders, making the famous Auror blush. Kingsley, on the other hand, didn't look that impressed.

"Harry, I know we agreed to keep this between us on the begging of our talk, but the information you gave me is just too relevant for us to keep it from the other Aurors that are working on the case…"

"I know that I'm asking a lot Minister, but bear with me. I've just learned that this girl is my daughter a few minutes ago – I didn't even have time to talk to her mother about it yet. Let alone tell the news to my girlfriend and her family. And I also need to make sure that Holly learns the truth! I really don't want to take a chance to get this information to leak to the newspapers – not before I get all this sorted out."

There was a moment of pause where Kingsley crossed his arms and looked from Gawain to Harry.

"This is a very fair request, Harry." The Ministry said in the end. "But I'm sure that you more than anyone else must want this case to be solved and get these people arrested as quickly as possible; and I'm sure that being an Auror yourself, you know how important it is to get everyone who is actively involved in this investigation informed of such important fact."

"I know Minister; I'm only asking for a bit of time…"

"And I'll give that you. You have thirty-six hours"

Harry sighed relieved.

"Thank you, Minister. I really appreciate this favour you are doing for me."

"But I want you, your daughter and her mother at the Ministry tomorrow at fifteen past three, to give your testimonials about this case."

"We'll be there."

"And I want the Debrief meeting to be booked for no later than Sunday..."

"This doesn't leave us enough time to cover everything, Minister!" Gawain snorted. "Especially after tonight… you must see that this, not nearly enough time to cover everything!"

"This doesn't give me enough time neither," Harry said. "Ginny is abroad playing for the Harpies..."

"Harry, this is the time I can give you – take it or leave. Gawain, if it is necessary we can do a second meeting later. It will be better this way, as everybody involved is going to have knowledge of the new circumstances around the case…"

Mr Robards seemed much calmer with this idea; Harry for the other hand still seemed concerned.

"Meanwhile, until further notice I want Harry to be in charge of Mrs and Miss Harrison protection. Who were you planning to put in charge of this case, Gawain?"

"If you're ok with that, I was planning to lead it myself, Minister"

"Perfect. Then nobody else needs to be immediately informed about this new piece of evidence." The Minister smiled and walked towards the door. "I'm off t my home. I'm happy how things have been conducted so far, so I'm leaving things here in your hands Gawain. And please, don't forget to send me a memo about all the progress done on this investigation before lunchtime." The Minister said before he left the room leaving Harry and Gawain behind. After an awkward silence, the Head of Auror Squad finally decided to break it.

"So… I think that 'congratulations' are in order …"

"Thanks, Sir. I was wondering if it's ok for me to go…"

"Of course you can go Harry; you are not supposed to be on duty here tonight. And now that the Minister had put you in charge of their safety you have another great reason for not be here."

"Thank you Gawain; See you tomorrow then."

Harry turned his back to his boss but was stopped by him just before he reached the door.

"Harry, I know that you are probably going to have a couple of lovely days getting to know your little one, but don't forget that you are still on duty; I'm expecting to read a detailed summary of the battle that happened here first thing tomorrow."

"Don't worry Sir; It will be on your desk before you arrive."

"See you tomorrow."

Before leaving, Harry decided to pack a couple of clothes from Annabel and Holly, as he didn't know how long they would have to be away from their house. After waving a quick goodbye to his colleagues, Harry saw the person that he wanted to see the least on that moment on the hallway shouting with one of the nicest Aurors in the entire squad.

"Sir, please calm down! I assure you that we're not burglars!" Said Alicia, the blond ponytailed Auror that as a true Hufflepuff remained calm despite the aggression.

"Geoffrey! How unpleasant is to see you."

"HA! I KNEW IT! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF TERRORISTS! I AM CALLING THE POLICE!"

"Good news for you Geoffrey, we ARE the police."

"NO, YOU ARE NOT! THAT'S WHY SHE HAD TO KEEP RUNNING AWAY FROM THOSE PEOPLE WEARING DARKS CLOAKS ACROSS THE WHOLE UNITED STATES!"

After hearing, this Harry felt a knot on his stomach, but he did not want let Geoffrey know how affected he had been with that comment.

"Geoffrey, no matter what you think. We can call them as much as you want, they are not going to come. You will only end up getting us to do more work – and we honestly don't need this at the moment. So if you could be a good boy for once in your life…"

"WHERE IS MY WIFE? DID YOU KIDNAPED HER? I DEMAND TO SEE MY WIFE!"

"WHAT HELL IS GOING ON DOWN HERE?" Gawain Robards, as well other couple Aurors had arrived on the hall to see who was the source of the noise.

"Mr Robards, I want to introduce you to Geoffrey Harrison… one of the muggles who lives here." Harry was trying very hard to not to lose his temper.

"Oh, I see." The Head of the Auror Squad exchanged glances with Harry.

"WHERE-IS-MY-WIFE, SCARFACE?"

"Your wife has been put under my care; she is fine, as well as Holly." Harry's eyes were burning with anger. He was using all his self-control for not curse Geoffrey. "But I refuse to take this one with me, Mr Robards. You know how much I have on my plate right now."

Geoffrey tried to punch Harry in the eye, but Harry prevented him from doing it by holding his arm in the air with muggle self-defence movement.  
"Geoffrey, don't. Please, just don't! You might end up getting hurt!" Harry said with fire in his eyes. Two other Auror's went on the spot Geoffrey was standing to hold the muggle in order to prevent his attempts at hitting Harry.

Without saying a word to anybody, Harry turned on his heels and slammed the front door leaving it wide open behind him; once he was about ten steps from the entrance door, he apparated in front of Geoffrey and the other Aurors, leaving everybody behind shocked. Geoffrey for seeing him disappearing in front of his eyes, and the Aurors by the heated discussion between the muggle and the famous hero.

* * *

The first thing that Harry saw when he went back home, was an awkward silence between both women who were sitting together on his sofa. Empty teacups remained on the coffee table, and Holly was sleeping with her head on Annabel's leap and her feet on Hermione's. Annabel had silent tears dripping from her eyes; Hermione, who seemed relieved with his arrival, carefully stood up, trying not to wake the little girl.

"Hi, Harry. Did everything went well with Kingsley?"

"Yes." Harry answered his friend, but his eyes would not leave the place where the girl was sleeping.

"And with Mr Robards?"

"They were both very understanding."

"Good, that's very good!" And the witch looked from Harry to Holly and Annabel. "I better go then and leave you three alone. I'm sure that you all have plenty of important things that need to be said."

But neither Harry or Annabel seemed to be paying attention to what she was saying. They both were looking deeply each other the eyes; it was as if feeling that had been suffocated for years, suddenly came to light. Love, passion, sorrow, hurt, guilt - all of these mixed feelings, being felt by both sides.

"Er… right, I think I better keep going. See you tomorrow Harry." Hermione tried to call their attention for the last time before she left, but it was useless. Harry didn't answer her, nor did Bel.

After Hermione left they remained in silence for long minutes, as if they were silently battling to see who would be the one who would dare to break the immense awkwardness in the room. Annabel was the one who spoke first.

"So… is this your house?"

"Yes."

"It's a nice place."

"Thank you."

The silence returned to reign between them. Harry took a few steps toward the sofa that Annabel was sitting and Holly was sleeping. He knelt next to his little girl and began to stroke her hair. He had to admit that her small eyes even when closed were very similar to his, being the only difference her long and feminine eyelashes. The nose which composed the girl's little feature was also totally like his own nose. Her hair was the same colour as his, but its shape was similar to what Annabel's hair when she was that age; her lips were all Annabel's.

Harry then noticed that the girl was wearing his mother's old family locket hidden under her pyjamas. He then held her tinny hand and saw that she had a very small birthmark in the same place he had one. He closed his eyes trying to avoid to show his emotions. His heart was beating fast with euphoria; the girl was definitely his daughter – he had no doubt. She was beautiful, lovely and perfect – she was everything that he had always had wished.

On the other hand, there was also the frustration of having lost four years of her life. The sadness of not have been there when she walked her first steps, spoken her first words. And the bitterness of knowing that Geoffrey was the one who had been there for her, watching her doing all those lovely things – after all, he was the one that she called 'dad'.

Annabel watched that scene heartbroken. Despite that seeing Harry interacting that way with his daughter was an old dream that she secretly kept, the memory of being abandoned by him when she was still pregnant, was too strong to be ignored. But one thing she had decided - she would have to tell him that he was the girl's biological father. The recent attack they had suffered at home, proved that not doing so could be dangerous. Yet she knew the consequences that a revelation of that size wouldn't bring anything good. Geoffrey would be possessed - she was sure he would consider this revelation to be a real act of betrayal. And Holly! How would she handle the news? She was so young to understand what had happened between them…

"Harry" Annabel said breaking the morbid silence that dominated the room for the second time "we need to talk."

He sighed tiredly and lifted his head to face her in the eyes.

"Yes, we do."

Annabel bit her lips and wondered once more if he already knew what she was about to reveal him. 'Maybe it would better this way' she thought bitterly. After all, if he didn't want to recognize the girl as his daughter, maybe she wouldn't need to tell Holly or Geoffrey about it too.

"Right. Is there any room where we can leave Holly so we can have this talk?"

"Yes. We can put her in the guest room. My godson Teddy usually stays there. I'm sure she will find it comfortable."

"Great. Just show me the way and I'll put her there." Annabel said just before she began to get up from the sofa, but she was stopped by Harry.

"No." He ordered so tightly that she almost frightened by the urgency in his words. "I do it." It was not a request.

He gently took the girl from her mother's lap and carried her on his arms. Annabel walked closely behind them. The guest room, looked more like a child room, with lots of toys and colourful decoration. Annabel particularly found impressive the moving drawing of a dragon which was flying around the ceiling. Behind the bed, there was also another moving drawing, but this time it was a large willow tree. On the wall located on the opposite side of the bed, there were also the drawings of a wolf, a dog, a stag and a rat.  
Annabel was so entrained by the magical decoration of the room that she almost missed when Harry carefully placed Holly on the bed for the first time. He covered the little girl with a duvet and gave a kiss on her forehead. After that, he remained in the room for a few minutes watching her sleep.  
When they finally returned to the living room, the first thing Harry did was stare at Annabel in the eyes and ask the question that had burnt inside him since he learned the truth.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier that Holly is my daughter?"

Annabel was taken aback by the way he asked that. Despite all the physical and emotional exhaustion that he had suffered in the last couple of hours, he remained calm. Annabel however, wished he had yelled at her because she would have more reasons to be mad at him, and perhaps this way, she would be able to reduce the guilt she was feeling for not revealed this during the previous afternoon.

"Since when do you know?"

"Since I did a paternity test minutes before the attack on your house." He sighed. "You had plenty opportunities to tell me that; why didn't you…?"

"I… I didn't want you to know…"

"But why, Bel? Why keep something like that from me? I would end up figuring it out eventually; you must be able to see that. You know that the reason we couldn't be together last time was because there was a psychopath that wanted to kill me. I still have plenty of enemies around; the only thing you got from hiding it, was to put you and Holly in danger again. Now answer me; why keep me in the shadows of something so important like that?"

She closed her fists before answering him.

"It took me so long to rebuild my life, my identity… you have no right to come out of nowhere destroying everything!"

"I never wanted to destroy anything in your life Bel. But I had the right to know and so does Holly. I want to be her father, give her my surname, and I don't want to lose any more time of her life. From now on, I want to be a present person in her daily life."

"What? Excuse me?" Annabel raised her voice "Who do you think you are, Harry Potter? Who do you think you are to disappear from my life – from our lives – and now come back years later as nothing had happened, making your demands as it better suits you?"

"Don't you act as I'm asking for anything unreasonable!" Harry also started to lose his temper. "You know how I always wanted to have children, so why the surprise? Holly and I have the right to get to know each other, and I will not give them up!"

"Rights? What rights? What rights should a man who abandons a seventeen-year-old girl, pregnant and alone in a foreign country should have? And please, don't tell me that you were the only one who could have put an end to that bloody Wizarding War, because I'm not buying it this time!"

"How – on Merlin's Beards – could I know that you got pregnant that night?" He ruffled his hair trying to calm down his nerves. "Listen… if I knew that… if I imagined that this could have happened, I would never have left you alone in a time like this."

"Well… but you did." Annabel lowered her voice once again while insistent tears started to leave her eyes. "And it was very hard to be me at that time. You have no idea of what I had to go through… if Geoffrey wasn't there to support me, I don't know what would have happened to us!"

He clenched his fist and punched the nearest wall to relieve the enormous anger he was feeling of himself. He didn't know what he hated the most – the fact that he wasn't there for her, or that it had been Geoffrey the one who was.

"So… was it there that you and Geoffrey started your relationship?" Harry asked bitterly.

"Of course not, Harry! I told you that I would wait for you no matter how long it would take, and so I did. You, on the other hand, wasn't even man enough to face me in the eye when you returned my bracelet…"

"Maybe the fact that you had been engaged and with a daughter that had been registered on Geoffrey's name, put me off seeing you again?" Harry answered full of sarcasm.

"What are you talking about? Geoffrey and I only started dating months after you give my chain back to me!"

"Oh really? So how did you end up getting proposed by him weeks before your chain get back to your hands?"

"That was… totally out of the blue." She confessed feeling confused, as she had never told anyone about that particular episode of her life. "I never imagined that he had this kind of feelings for me…"

"Come on! I was there! I saw the interaction between you two; I saw how you responded to his kiss. Please don't tell me it didn't happen!"  
Annabel's jaw dropped.

"What do you mean by you were there?"

"I was hiding under my father's old cloak few meters away from the place you two were having your lovely picnic." Harry's heart was full of sorrow. "I was planning to take you to Paris where I was going to proposing you myself… but it was too late for that, as you clearly had moved on to another relationship."

After this revelation, Annabel's face went pale and she left her body flop on the sofa that luckily was behind her. She was shaking. Harry noticing that she was not well, made a jug of water and two glasses with a quick wave of his wand. However, Annabel didn't even pay attention to the magic he had performed in front of her eyes. Everything she could think of was that he had wanted once to get back together with her – but by a twist of fate, he didn't.

Harry sat on the couch in front of the place she was sitting and offered her some water. After having a couple of sips, she slowly started to feel better. It took a while before she could recover enough to say the words that were stuck in her throat.

"Harry… if you were there, as I'm sure you were… why didn't you heard when I politely said no to him because I was still deeply in love with you?"  
It was Harry's turn to open his eyes widely in disbelieve.

"No! You didn't say that!"

"Of course I did!"

"Are you serious?"

She nodded to confirm, and by her expression, he knew that she was telling the truth.

He immediately stood up and started walking from a side to the other, ruffling his hair and trying not to explode any of his possessions by mistake with his range.

"I'm such an idiot! I can't believe that I left this happen to us again." He said without looking her in the eyes.

"Maybe if I hadn't let Geoffrey play the role of Holly's father, you wouldn't have been put off by that…"

"I should have heard Hermione and gone after you regardless!"

Annabel stood up and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, making him turn to face her.

"It wasn't your fault Harry; I don't blame you for what happened to us."  
Harry felt a knot in his throat.

"But it's not only us now, is it Bel? I have lost four years of Holly's life. Four bloody years that are not going to come back. No matter what happens, I will never forgive myself for that."

Annabel bitted her lip finally understanding that he had lost much more than she had. She gently held his hand with both of hers, in what she thought to be a friendly way.

"I'm sure that Holly can find space in her heart for a second Dad. She is a very special girl… you two will catch up those missing moments, I promise."

Harry sighed. He did not like the idea of sharing the position of Holly's father with Geoffrey, but if this were what he was allowed to have, he would take it.

"So… you're going to tell her then?"

"Yes," Annabel answered after a taking a deep breath. "But let's take this on baby steps, shall we? Maybe it would be better for her to get to know you first. We will also need to think about what is a less traumatic way to tell this for her. You see, Holly absolutes adore her Dad… and Geoffrey is crazy for her too – and let's not mention the fact that he hates you!"

"The feeling is mutual."

"Please, don't let these resentments from the past influence your opinion about him. He has changed a lot, you know? He is nearly a completely different person. Especially when he is not upset - or when things happen the way he wants..."

"Summarizing, he is still the same spoiled brat!" Harry gave her a rueful smile. Annabel opened her mount to protest, but Harry spoke before she had a chance of doing so. "Why everything has always to be so hard for me?"

"What do mean?" She asked confused.

"I mean…" On an impulse, he caught her by the wrist and pulled her near to his body. Annabel's big eyes widened in surprise with that gesture "Why everything that I hold dear seem to be always taken away from me? _Do you love him_? Do you love Geoffrey?"

Annabel's legs were wobbly and her heart was beating faster than ever. Oh, how she wanted to through herself in his arms once again.

"What… what kind of question is that?" She said trying to regain the strength in her legs.

"It's a very simple question. Please be honest with me – do you love him?"

"Geoffrey is… a lovely guy…"

"Y_es, yes_, you told me that earlier – but do you_ love_ him?" Harry asked impatiently bringing her closer to him.

"I… I… I think you are hurting me."

After hearing that, Harry immediately let her go. Annabel rushed to the coffee table and helped herself with some water while Harry tried to hide his face with both of his hands.

"I'm sorry! I really don't know what possessed me! Must be the tiredness…" He blushed and tried to look away from the place she was standing.

"I… I think that I'm feeling very tired too," Annabel said after drinking her second glass of water.

"Right," Harry said after finally managed to recompose himself. "I will make a second bed in the room that Holly is sleeping, but I think that I will leave that for tomorrow, as this kind of Transfiguration can be a bit noisy. Today I think I will leave you in the Master Bedroom and I will stay in my office if that's ok with you."

"No, no! I don't think this is a good idea!" Annabel said fearing the perspective of sleeping on the Auror's bed. A bed covered by Harry's smell. "I mean, I'm very happy to stay in your office if you don't mind..."

"Actually I do mind. I have a ton of work to do before breakfast time, not to mention that my office is full of magical objects – some which are reasonable dangerous… it wouldn't be very wise of me to leave a muggle there alone for a whole night. No offence."

"None taken."

"Let me show you where the Master Bedroom is then."

Harry's room was so minimalistic, clean and tidy that reminded her of a posh hotel room. Unlike the room that Holly was asleep, nothing there seemed to be charmed; on the contrary, it looked like any common master bedroom like so many others she had already seen. Harry quickly showed her where was the ensuite bathroom and closet.

"If you want to have a shower just take a new towel from the cupboard under the sink; I will magically transfer some of your clothes to the closet, so you feel more comfortable…"

"Thanks, it is very kind of you…" She sat on the corner of his bed still feeling a bit uncomfortable for what had almost happened between them. Harry was not looking relaxed either.

"Right. I'm going to leave you in peace. If you need me I will be in the room opposite this one."

"Goodnight Harry."

"Night."

Immediately after he closed the door, Annabel left her body to crash on his king-sized bed. She placed both of her hands on her forehead, giving it a small massage. While she was staring the white ceiling, she couldn't stop wondering how on Earth was she going to sleep after everything that had just happened between them.

* * *

After leaving Annabel alone at his bedroom, Harry went straightway to the second bathroom to throw some water on his face.

"You big idiot!" He told to his reflection on the mirror. "She is married now. You are with Ginny now. Stop behaving like a fucking teenager!"

He needed a long shower, his pensieve and a long night of dreamless sleep. Unfortunately, it already was three in the morning – and as he did not own a time-turner. Therefore, he would have to select and prioritize which of those things were the most urgent for him to do before dawn.


	20. Old feelings

After having a long and well-deserved shower, Harry decided to make good use of his pensive in order to try organizing his thoughts.

He and Annabel had a daughter. Their daughter was being chased by a group of wizards. Now, _what did they want with her_? Was it just a revenge that was being planned by one of his many enemies? or there was some other morbid reason behind that?

The wizard who had died on the museum was very likely to have connections with an infamous Japanese clan. However, the wizard who died on Annabel's house didn't seem to have any connection at all with them. The wizard that Harry duelled with didn't seem to be the Death Eater type. He was also much older than other two who had died – old enough to be Harry's father, in fact. Harry observed his pensieve when the face of the bald wizard he had duelled with transformed into the young Tom Riddle's face and then it turned into Holly's. _Good _lucky_ with this riddle_, the man had said. _What a hell was he trying to say_?

The alarm clock rang, telling that it was time for Harry to finish the potion he had left resting on the cauldron. He added unicorn horn powder and petals of asphodel smashed into a paste and gave it four stirs anti-clockwise. When the potion became a light shade of orange, he knew that it was ready to be consumed. With another wave of his wand, Harry made a silver goblet appear and poured some of the liquid on it. He was about to bring it to his lips when Kreacher appeared with a POP in front of the place he was.

"Master Potter, Kreacher knows what potion this is. Master should not have it!"

"Why shouldn't I have it?"

"Miss Weasley told Kreacher how _bad_ this potion is to Master health."

"Oh, _tha_t…" Harry said and drank it ignoring Kreacher's advice.

Harry knew that this potion which made someone's body feel rested despite the sleep deprivation had some side effects that could be very dangerous if used on regular bases. But he was not being careless. It was true that he used it much more than the average wizard, but his job was also much more stressful than the most.

"Bad Kreacher! Couldn't stop the Master to drink it…" Kreacher said while he tried to hit his head against the wall.

"Stop hitting yourself Kreacher! I'm grown up man, I can take care of myself. And please, don't let Ginny or Hermione knows that I had this potion again. They would freak out, but it's perfectly safe to do it the way I'm doing it."

Kreacher seemed much calmer after that.

"Does Master wants Kreacher to make something special this morning for your Miss and Ms?"

"Have you been hearing me behind doors, Kreacher?" Harry asked with a playful smile.

"_Of course not_ Master Harry! Kreacher can feel the house-elf bonding coming strong from the little Miss Potter and your Ms Muggle"

"Don't call her that. She has a name, Annabel Harrison, and I would prefer if you addressed her by it"

"Kreacher will call the muggle as Masters wishes," the old elf said while bowing in an exaggerated way.

"And please, it's better if you don't call my daughter of Miss Potter just yet. You'll just make her feel confused, as she has no idea that I'm her father yet."

"Kreacher will keep Master's secret."

"Good. I knew you would understand. Kreacher, I know that you probably extremely busy with me having two guests staying with us, but I was wondering If you could make me two big favours this morning?"

"Kreacher will have pleasure doing a favour for his Master!"

"Great. I know you are not an owl Kreacher, but I've sent Agnes to Ginny last night and she hasn't returned yet. I need you to make sure that these reports are going to be found by my boss, Gawain Robards, as soon he arrives on the Auror Squad today. The second favour I want to ask you is for you to take this postal order to the Quality Quidditch Supplies Shop at the Diagon Ally. I need this to be delivered to me as soon as possible."

"Kreacher will protect Master's correspondence with his own life!"

"Er… please don't. Your life worth's more than any letter, Kreacher."

"Master is very generous." Kreacher gave another pompous bow. The house-elf was about to leave Harry's office when he was stopped by the Auror.

"Kreacher, don't worry about the breakfast. I will fix something up."

Kreacher bowed and disappeared from Harry's sight with a loud POP sound. Once he was alone again, the Auror returned his attention to the pensieve, but he was interrupted by the noise of someone coughing. He looked up behind his glasses and saw that the noise had come from one of the five magical portraits he had on the wall.

"Harry, _did I heard it right_? Did you just said _you have a daughter_?" Said the figure of an old woman who was Harry's Great Grandmother, which had once been the Head Healer of St. Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

"Yes, you heard correctly. I've just found out about her today."

"Merlin's beards Potter!" Said another painting of a bearded man known as Phineas Nigellus Black.

"Yes, I know! It's still very unreal for me too."

"Another Potter in the world – how, unfortunately." Said the wizard with a pointy nose and greasy hair.

"Well Snape, at least you will be pleased to know that she has Lily's eyes."

"This is going to be quite the shock on the Wizarding World. I'm quite surprised the news hasn't been spread yet."

"And I hope they will carry on not being spread," Harry said very seriously

"As I told Kreacher, not even my daughter knows who she is yet. I need time to tell everyone involved."

"How old is she?" Harry's Great Grandmother asked.

"She is a lovely four-year-old girl."

"She was born during the War." Severus Snape portrait frowned.

"Yes, she was. And I'm very glad that Voldemort didn't know about her existence; can you imagine if he did?"

The mention of his old enemy gave Harry an idea. The Auror waved his wand to the pensieve, making the image of the man he had duelled with appear in a hologram form.

"Severus, do you recognize this man?"

"No. Why should I?"

"This mother fucker is after my daughter; no idea why. He seems to be around your age, and as you were a Death Eater once, I was hoping that maybe you would know who he is…"

"You should ask Albus."

"Can you get him, please?"

"I'm not an owl-post!" Severus Snape portrait snorted in annoyance, but he disappeared behind his frame and returned minutes later bringing the figure of Albus Dumbledore with him.

"Harry my boy, it's so nice to see you again. What can I do for you today?"

"Professor, I was wondering if you know who this man is?" Harry said pointing to the hologram that was still floating in the middle of the room. Dumbledore's portrait analyzed it for a long moment before answering his old pupil.

"I believe that we both never had the pleasure. Can I be noisy and ask you why do you need to know this gentleman identity?"

"This gentleman is trying to kidnap my daughter – _Yes I have a daughter_," Harry told the old headmaster who seemed to be shocked with this information, but he quickly recovered from the shock.

"I see. You ended up deciding to go after your muggle lover when you got my last letter, right?"

Harry blushed.

"Yes, that's right."

"Well Harry, I'm afraid that I can't help you to find out this man's identity. But one thing I can assure you – that I don't believe that he had ever been to Hogwarts – at least not in my time. Unless of course, he is under some exceptionally good camouflage and disguise spells."

"I honestly haven't thought about this possibility yet... but thank you, Professor, it was extremely helpful."

The young Auror then grabbed some parchments that were laying on his desk and left his office and headed to the kitchen. It was fifteen past seven, and he planned to make some breakfast for him and for the girls who he believed to be sleeping. However, when he arrived at the kitchen, he was surprised to see that Annabel had put his frying-pan to work before he had the chance to do so.

"Good morning!" She greeted him with what she hoped to be a very welcome smile, but in reality, she looked very tired.

"Morning. I'm taking that you didn't have a very good night of sleep?"

"No, I'm _perfectly fine_," She said in the middle of a yawn.

"Well, if you are interested, I brewed a potion that makes you feel like you had a good night of sleep, even though you haven't. I've got a cauldron full of it."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm still a little bit wary of magic. I've been through many worse nights, anyway. Where do you keep the eggs?"

"On the top left shelf. Are you sure you don't want to try it? _It's an amazing thing_" Harry told her while he went to get some sausages.

"Don't get me wrong, but I will pass it. I'm feeling a bit traumatized by magic right now. I think you can understand. _Besides_, I read a lovely review about a coffee shop near the place I'm going to work this lunchtime…"

"Oh no, you're not going to work today."

"_What do you mean by you're not going to work today?_"

"I meant to say that you can't go to work today."

"_What_?

"You have _almost been killed_ more than once yesterday. Do you think that I can just let you go walking around the city as if nothing had happened?"

"But I have to go to work! It's not like I can just _pull a sicky_. I'm the owner of my company!"

"What does your company do?"

"It's a catering company. If I don't show up, things will go wrong – and then I will lose my clients!"

"Come on, I'm sure that your company can survive without you for a couple of days…"

"No, it can't! There are people out there relying on me, and this without even considering the fact that I have contracts and… I can get into real trouble if the events don't turn out the way it supposed to be. Not to mention the negative publicity it could cause me!" she started to raise her voice.

"Make a list of the things that need to be done and I will ask Kreacher to do take care of them for you," Harry told her without taking his eyes from the fry-pan.

Annabel rolled her eyes.

"Kreacher? _Who is Kreacher_?"

"I like to say that Kreacher is my _personal assistant_ – although he is technically my house-elf."

"And what does the personal assistant of a police officer knows about catering, for Godness sake!? Will he be able to tell the difference between _mornay_ or _soubise sauce_? Can he make a _perfect buttercream_?"

"I guarantee that Kreacher is perfectly capable of all those things and more – whatever a _mornay sauce_ is, I'm sure that he can make it with his eyes closed."

"_Really_? Do you think that I'm that replaceable that any wizard can go and do the same with his eyes closed?"

"First of all, I don't think that any wizard can go and do your job. But Kreacher is _not a wizard_, he is a _house-elf_, and as such, he happens to have amazing culinary abilities; of course, not as good as yours." He quickly added.

"I don't feel very comfortable to leave my company in the hands of someone I don't even know…" Annabel said while she was trying to turn the toaster. Noticing her trouble, Harry waved his wand and made it work.

"Listen: I'm here trying to save your life. So please, chill out and enjoy some days of rest – it doesn't look like you had many on past couple of years."

"_Some days?_ How many days are we _exactly_ talking about?"

"_Ideally_ it would be until we caught the two fugitives that still are out there. But surely not before we have a better idea of who they are and have a better security system in place."

"So no idea of dates then? _Great_! What amazing news." Annabel said looking like she thought that the news were the opposite of great.

"I'm in charge of your and Holly's personal security – this also means that if things take a little longer than we wish for, I'll be making a plan to allow you and your family to have a little bit of your normal life back."

"What do you mean by us having a _little bit_ of our normal life back?" Annabel started to make the table but was stopped by Harry who with a simple wave of his wand, made the plates, cutlery and everything else fly to the table that they were about to seat.

"I mean that I _might_ be able to allow you back to your home if we can figure out a way to conceal your house completely without interfering too much with your electricity. However, I can't allow Holly to be back to school anytime soon – not even if we capture the suspects."

"_What_? Y_ou can't just remove her from her school like that!_ She will miss the school year, and let's not even mention the trouble that I will have with the social service…"

"Don't worry about the social service; I will take care of that. Andromeda is homeschooling my Godson, who is exactly Holly's age. I'm sure she won't mind do the same to our Holly."

"She was so excited about a school trip that they will do to a farm at the end of the month… can't you find another way that doesn't involve removing her from her school? Maybe if you get some bodyguards to look after her…"

Harry had a long sigh.

"Sorry Bel. It is _too risky_. Do you know they are after her, don't you? And we don't even know what exactly they want to do with her. Maybe they want to kidnap her for ransom. Perhaps some old enemy of mine wants to reach me. They might want to kill her - or do even worse things to her. Let's not tempt fate, which by the way, has already been very generous to us so far."

Annabel went pale and blinked in shock as she hadn't considered any of the possibilities he had mentioned. Harry guided her to the table where they remained in an uncomfortable silence. Harry started to eat his breakfast but Annabel did nothing but play with her food. After a while, two owls arrived, one carrying the Daily Prophet and the black one with yellow eyes was bringing him a letter. Harry paid the owl who gave him the newspaper, and the bird immediately flew away. The second owl, which was dark as his hair, started to eat some breakfast straight from his plate. Harry didn't seem bothered by the bird behaviour and ignored the letter giving priority to the newspaper, which he examining thoroughly through every single page as if he was expecting to find a particular article. Annabel observed the moving pictures, but they didn't seem to cause her any excitement as they had done at the first time she saw them.

"Harry, do you think they are trying to kill her?"

Annabel managed to ask him the question that was in her head since Harry last words. Harry seemed to be taken aback by her question, and slowly he put his mug on the table at the same time he lowered the newspaper.

"I… I really hope they are not, but it's a possibility that needs to be considered."

"But… _what do you think_?"

"There is no way to make assumptions until we find out more information about the case. But one thing I can assure you – they are dangerous people and they are after Holly. You saw how they killed that boy on the museum. Of course that we can't be sure without analyzing Holly's memories, but I bet that curse was aiming to hit either you or her."

Annabel bite her lip thinking about how close to death she and her daughter had been.

"Those wizards didn't mind firing that deadly curse, even though it was a crowded place and they could end up hitting someone else instead. This shows you how dangerous they can be for the people around you. Now, imagine what they can do to you or her, who is the actual target."

Annabel started to feel a bit nauseous thinking that woman who tortured her on the museum could have done the same to Holly.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked concerned. Annabel nodded her head to confirm, but her face looked concerned.

"Sorry Bel; I didn't mean to scare you, but as an Auror it's my job to think about every single possibility. That's why it's so important that you and Holly give a very accurate testimonial today to my colleagues at the Ministry. I'll be taking both of you there this afternoon."

"I promise that I tell them everything this time; they can even examine my memories if they want…"

"They will be really pleased to know that. I'm sure it will help a lot in the process of identifying those people. Knowing who they are is the first step in order for us to understand why they are targeting Holly in the first place."

He put the newspaper down on the table while he was spreading some jam at his toast when Annabel noticed a moving picture of her house accompanied by a second picture of Harry. She couldn't help but grab the paper which was laying free on the table without asking his permission.

"Why does your face keep appearing on these magical newspaper?" Annabel asked just before she read the headlines.

Harry sighed and raised his hand in a clearly asking her to give it back to him.

"You know, it's not very polite to grab other people belongs like that without asking permission…"

But she ignored him and carried on reading the article.

"Did you fight with Geoffrey?" Annabel frowned.

"Fight is a very strong word. Let's say that we had some disagreement for obvious reasons that I'm sure you can figure out."

"But it's saying here that he lost a couple of teeth and you end up with a black eye…"

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Did my eyes look bruised when I came back home last night?"

"No, but you could have magically fixed it. I saw how good you wizards are in this department when that nurse witch fixed my leg just like that." She waving an invisible wand.

"Oh well, yes I had a _discussion_ with your husband, but I assure you that it was nothing nearly as bad what this newspaper is saying. Before you make any more assumptions, let me tell you my version of what really happened…"

But before he had the chance to say anything, they were interrupted by 35 inches little girl on her pock dotted pyjamas. Harry immediately froze to better analyze the girl that now he knew to be his daughter. Annabel immediately put the newspaper way and forgot everything that she had read on it.

"Mummy, where are my glasses?"

"Good morning Holly. I am not sure, but I think I kept them in my gown's pocket. Let me check it for you." Annabel was about to stand up when she was stopped by Harry.

"Don't worry. I'll do it – _Accio glasses_."

Harry stood up and raised his arm to grab the glasses that came flying in his direction seconds after he cast the spell. Once he had them safe on his hand, Harry kneeled near the spot where Holly was standing and gently he put the red glasses on her face. At the same time he felt a huge thrill, the girl seemed to be shy.

"Thank you, Sir." She said adjusting them to her face.

"Oh please, don't call me sir." He said caressing her head and face. "You are so beautiful! I'm so happy you got your Mum's amazing hair, Holly. Your eyes… I don't know how I could be so blind…"

"_Harry!_" Annabel rushed to the place where they were standing and placed her hand on the Auror's shoulder. "You agreed to wait, _remember_?"

"Yes, yes, sorry." He stood up again trying to remain cool.

"Mummy, what are you two talking about?"

"Adult stuff, don't worry about it _Hollypops_. You woke up early for a Saturday…"

"I had a nightmare…" The little girl grabbed her mother's hand.

"_Oh dear me_! Do you want to tell me and Harry about your nightmare at the breakfast table?"

The girl nodded, and the three of them sat down for a family meal for the first time.

"What do you want to eat? Eggs and toast?"

The girl nodded in agreement and Annabel grabbed Holly's plate and started to put some food in it.

"Mummy, can I have some orange juice _please?_"

Annabel gave an inquiring look at Harry, as she was unsure if he had orange juice or not.

"Sorry Holly, I've only got pumpkin juice here. But If you prefer I can make you some special hot chocolate! How does it sound?" Harry offered her.

"Can I have the hot chocolate please?" The girl asked shyly.

"I thought so," Harry said standing up to make her a drink. "But you should try the pumpkin juice some time – magical kids love it!"

"Mummy, is Uncle Matt coming to play with me here?"

"No _sweetheart_. We had to change the plans, and you are not going to see Matt today. But the good news is that Mummy is not going to work today."

"Yeah!" The little girl cheered lifting up both of her hands in the air. "Can we go to the park?"

"No dear, I'm afraid that we will have to stay here today…" Annabel said while she returned Holly's plate full of food to the girl.

"Who said that we'll need to stay here?" Harry said returning with Holly's hot chocolate. "I'm taking both of you to Devon today."

"Devon? But I thought you said it was risk…"

"I said that it's risk for any of you to go walking around the city; this doesn't include going to _well-warded_ houses of great friends of mine. How is the hot chocolate, Holly?"

"Those marshmallows are funny." The girl pointed out her drink, which had some colourful jumping marshmallows on it.

"What do you say, Holly?" Annabel gave the little girl a stern.

"Thank you very much for the hot chocolate Sir…"

"Please, don't call me Sir, Holly. Do you remember me from yesterday? I took you and your mum home yesterday…"

The girl nodded in agreement while she eats a small piece of toast.

"Do you want to tell us about your nightmare?" Harry asked her kindly, but the girl nodded her head in a negative way.

"Why don't you want to share it with us, Holly?"

"Because I'm scared of my dreams."

"You don't need to be scared of your dreams, Holly. They are just dreams – how many times did I tell you about it?" Annabel told her daughter.

"What happened to Lola?"

Annabel took a deep breath before answering.

"Lola is…dead."

"Is she like that bug when I stepped on it?"

"Er... yes, something like that," Annabel said not very sure of how to deal with this subject.

"I should have gone after her! I could have stopped the man." The girl said in a crying voice.

"No, sweetheart there is nothing you could have done to avoid it." Harry felt like his heart was being crushed. He knew well how hard it was for someone so young have to deal with things like death in such a young age, and he hated the fact that now his only daughter was now having to experience some of those feelings. "You are only a little girl, there is nothing you could have done to avoid those men to do what they did. You should feel proud of Lola. For the little I've heard, Lola died bravely. Correct me if I'm wrong Bel."

"Yes, she did. She saved my life."

The girl, who had tears coming down her face looked almost confused.

"This should have happened in a _different way_…"

"Yes, but as Harry said… you are just a little girl. There is nothing you could have done my sweetie."

There was a loud POP in the kitchen, which made both girl's jump. They looked to the spot where the sound had come from and saw the old house-elf trying to remain standing while he held a big box that was twice his size.

"Hold on Kreacher! Let me help you."

Harry got the big parcel and thanked the house elf.

"Annabel, do you have that list ready? You can pass the instructions to Kreacher orally if you prefer…"

"_What_? _You must be kidding Harry_! You want this _thing_ to take care of my company?" She opened her eyes widely while she analyzed Kreacher's tea towel that was covering his body.

"Master don't want Kreacher to call muggle names that they should be called, but Kreacher is called names by muggle…"

"Yes Kreacher, I agree that was a bit rude. Annabel, this _thing_ has a name – Kreacher. And he is not a _thing_, he is a _house-elf_. And he is going to be helping you with your company, so you better be nice to him."

"Er… _sorry Kreacher_; I didn't mean to offend you at all. I've just never seen a house-elf before."

"Not many muggles have. So, can you work on that list? As soon you finish it as soon I can send him to do the things you need to get done."

Harry waved his wand making some pen and paper to appear in front of her.  
"I really hope you know what you doing Harry… I have a regular client tomorrow and I can't afford to lose her."

"Don't worry, you are in safe hands. Believe me, Kreacher is the best person to replace you."

Annabel finally gave up and started to write down the chores that she needed Kreacher to do for her. And Harry went to talk to Holly.

"Can you see that big box there? It's a present for you."

The girl raised her head and wiped her eyes.

"But it's not my birthday…"

"No… but it's still a very special day for me. One day, you will understand."

"What is it?"

"Do you want to go and open it with me?"

"Sure!" The girl stood up and went to the place where the box was. She excitedly tore the wrapping paper, revealing the contents of the box in a few seconds.

"It's a broom."

"Not any broom… this one can fly…"

"Yes! I saw you flying with Mummy in a broom on the museum!"

"Harry, are you sure this is safe for her age?" Annabel raised her eyes from the list she was making.

"_Of course_, _I'm!_ This is a kid's broom. It doesn't fly very high and is full of safety charms and protection spells.

"That's another reason why I want to take you both to my friend's house. They have a little area near the woods where is safe for us to go for a fly. Another reason is to see my Godson Teddy who will also be there…"

"Mummy, can I go fly with him, please?"

"Of course you can, sweetie." Annabel smiled. "It will be lovely to watch you guys having some bonding time…"

"Yeah!" The little girl cheered. "Mummy, is Dad going to watch me flying too?"

Harry and Annabel exchanged glances. He knew about who she was talking, and he knew that it would happen at sooner or later, but hearing the girl that he now knew to be his daughter calling Geoffrey Dad, while she tried not to call him Sir, was still very painful.

"Geoffrey is not going to be there…" Harry said dryly.

Feeling the tension, Annabel decided to take over the course of their conversation.

"Well… Dad is not going to be there, but I'm going to be there, and Harry is going to be there. I know you are very excited about flying, so why we don't go back to the room so you can wear something more appropriate for a broom hide?"

"Sure!" The girl smiled and dashed to the corridor that leads to the bedrooms, leaving Harry and Annabel alone in the living room.

"Bel, _you need to tell her_," Harry said once he was certain the girl wouldn't be able to hear them.

"I know… but let's let her get to know you a bit better first. She is so young…"

"She is old enough to understand things like that. She needs to know who I am."

"I will figure out a way to tell her. I'm not fully convinced that she understands what happened with Lola. You saw how quickly she seemed to forget about it, and she absolutely adored that dog. Can you imagine how confusing this thing that happened between me, you and Geoffrey are going to sound to her?"

"We need to find a way to make sure she understands this, then. I rather she heard this from us, than from somebody else."

"Who would tell something like that to her?"

"Earlier you asked me why does my face keep appearing on these magical newspapers. I did not tell you earlier, because I felt no need to do so, but surviving the killing curse for more than once made me famous within the magical community. It won't take long until this story leaks to the press and then it will be hard to keep it from her. I think it will be much better for her if she hears the truth from us than from other people."

"I agree that she needs to know, but I still think we should prepare her better for hearing this news. Here is my list to Kreacher by the way." She said handing the notes to Harry. "I better go and help Holly to find something proper for her to wear, otherwise she will come back here looking like a fairy or a mini-Cinderella."

* * *

Harry had just apparated with Annabel and Holly to the Burrow. Despite the cold wind that was blowing on their faces, it was a beautiful winter day at Ottery St. Catchpole. The settled snow that skirted the nearby hills were starting to melt, turning back on its green grass form again. In case they needed to do an emergency apparition, Harry decided to carry Holly and hold Annabel's arm in a way that would easily allow them to scape if necessary.

"This is the house of the Weasley's. I spend uncountable school holidays here with my two best friends."

"So this is the famous place where you came to hide every time you left me alone at Private Drive. _Super_."

"Oh, _don't be dramatic_!"

"_Sorry_, but I need to say that is quite a funny building. _How is it even standing?_"

"_Magic!_" Holly answered her question smiling. "Can I fly now, please?"

"Sorry young lady, but first we need to go and say hello to the habitats of the house. Otherwise, it would be very rude, don't you think?"

The girl nodded in agreement to her mother's comment and Harry put her down and freed Annabel from his tight grip as they entered the Burrow wards. When they were few meters away from the house, a blued hair boy came running in their direction and was caught by Harry who lifted him up to great him.

"Harry! I knew you would come! My Granny was telling me that you would not come any more, but I knew you would!"

"Hi, young man? How are you doing? Yes, I came, but I'm not going to be able to take you to the game as I had promised earlier."

"_Oh_…" Teddy's blue hair turned into grey in disappointment.

"I'm sorry about that Cub. Its work, you know. You have two options: you can either go the game with Granny instead of me, or you can stay here and play with me and this little girl here."

Teddy examined Holly for a while before he gave Harry his answer.

"I'll stay…"

"Good! We can both teach Holly how to play Quidditch then!"

"Harry!" Mrs Weasley opened the kitchen doors with a large smile "I was expecting you for breakfast! Why didn't you come earlier?"

"Well, we already had breakfast. I thought it would be unfair of me to bring two extra mouths without letting you know in advance…"

Molly then noticed with surprise that Harry wasn't alone before she gave way for them to enter her house.

"Hey, Harry! How are you doing?" Angelina Weasley asked him while they entered the house.

"Good and how are you and the bump?"

"They can't stop kicking"

"They are going to be two pranksters like me and Fred, I can tell!" George answered.

"Harry, How are you? Who is your friend?" Mr Weasley asked.

"This Annabel Harrison, the muggle I asked you to check your records yesterday, do you remember?"

"Oh yes, yes, of course! We were just commenting the news." Mr Weasley said it giving him a meaningful look.

"Did Ron tell it for you then?" Harry raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"_Ron_? No, we were talking about the news that was in the papers this morning."

"Why are you asking Harry? Is there something else that is not in the news that we _should_ know?" Andromeda asked concerned.

Harry had a quick look around to see who in the room that he could spare from hearing the news from his own mouth. Everyone there was important for him there, but he needed to choose someone to keep an eye on the children.

"Angelina, would you mind taking the children to play in the garden?"

Everybody tensed with his request, as it probably meant that whatever Harry wanted to share was serious enough to be said far from the children. Angelina looked him with curiosity but she did as requested and took the kids away from the living room with her.

"What's the matter, Harry?" George asked him in such a serious tone of voice that would have made the young George sulky.

Harry took a deep breath before starting.

"What I'm going to tell you all is very shocking. It is a good shocking, but still shocking. I've only found it out yesterday evening and I'm still trying to digest the news."

"Just speak out, Harry!"

"I've just found out last night that this little girl I brought here with me today – also known as the muggle-born young witch who performed accidental magic on the museum yesterday – is actually _my daughter_."

Molly left her body to flop on the chair behind her. Arthur's eyes were widely opened and George's jaw had dropped, while Andromeda covered her own mouth with both of her hands. Harry and Annabel exchanged looks before he carried on explaining himself.

"I think you all remember that I once had a muggle girlfriend for a couple of years? She was Annabel here, she is Holly's mother. Before Voldemort took over the Ministry… before I went into hiding with Ron and Hermione… we had _a little something_. _And well_, Holly was made."

"_This was a big something_..." Andromeda was the first to recover from the shock.

"Does Ginny know about this?" Arthur asked him.

"My poor little girl must be so upset!" Molly said with a wimpy.

"No, I didn't have time to tell her. You know that Ginny is preparing for that important match, and I didn't feel like bringing this subject in a letter."

"You did well not telling her like that, Harry. But she needs to know it soon. It's better for her to learn it from you…" Arthur Weasley said crossing his arms.

"Yes, I plan to tell her as soon as she comes back. Unfortunately, I can't go after her now that I'm taking care of Holly's and Annabel security."

"Harry, you _cheated on my little Sister_!" George said closing his fists with anger. "I know you guys started going out when you were still a Hogwarts student!"

"Yes, we dated, but I broke out with her before the end of that same school year. I had nothing to do with your Sister when me and Annabel… well, you know."

"Well… Ginny didn't seem to believe that you guys were over during the War." George said accusative.

"That poor little girl – _Holly, isn't?_ – she is the reason behind the attacks, I'm guessing?" Andromeda asked while she tried to catch a glimpse of Holly through the windows.

"Yes, strong shreds of evidence are pointing in this direction." Harry also looked through the window and saw Holly and Teddy building a snowman with Angelina's help. "Holly doesn't know that she is my daughter yet…"

"We'll tell her as soon she is ready…" Annabel said.

"I don't think you can ever prepare a kid to hear something like that." Mrs Weasley told her "I'm right to assume that she believes that your muggle husband is her father?"

Annabel nodded.

"I just think that it will be easier for her to accept it if she gets to know Harry a bit more before we tell her."

"It makes sense. Just don't keep it for too long. You don't want her to learn this from _another source_ if you know what I mean."

Harry gave Annabel a '_told you so_' glare.

"Teddy and I are not going to the games anymore, so if anyone here wants our tickets… I'm sure that Ginny will love to see anyone here cheering for her there today."

"Why don't you go there with me, Molly? How long it has been since we last saw Ginny playing?" Arthur asked his wife.

"I don't know… Percy, Bill and the girls were going to come for lunch today…"

"I can floo message them and let them know the change of plans." George offered to his parents.

"In that case… let me go and change my clothes." The matriarch of the Weasley family said before she went upstairs, closely followed by her husband.

"Harry, is it ok if leave Teddy here with you for a couple of hours? I had arranged to meet an old friend as I believed that you and he were going to spend the weekend together…"

"Of course Andromeda! And I'm sorry for the short notice about the change of plans. But with all the things that happened yesterday, I didn't really have a chance to contact you. If it's ok with you, I would love to keep him at mine for the weekend. He and Holly seem to be enjoying each others company for what I can see…" Harry said pointing to the window where they could see both kids throwing snowballs at each other.

"Great. I'm going to say bye to him then. Have lovely time Harry. It was nice to meet you, Annabel. I'm sure we are going to meet each other more often now."

Once Andromeda left the room, Annabel and Harry were left alone with George.

"I don't know what you guys had, but it's _better_ to be in the past. Or If it's not, I hope you are man enough to let Ginny know instead of doing things behind her back!"

Annabel and Harry blushed with his comment, but it was her who answered him back.

"_For God sake_, I'm a married woman now! Of course that our case is in the past!"

"_Good_. It is better to be this way. Just don't forget that Ginny has five older brothers to take care of her – and I'm worth for two now!"

"You know me for more than a decade, George; you must know that I would never hurt your Sister intentionally."

"Please don't hurt her even unintentionally. You've been warned!" And with that said, George left his parents house and went to the gardens to get Angelina before he could leave the Burrow grounds.

"He sounds like an extremely protective old brother. I'm so glad that I never had one of those" Annabel said thoughtfully while watching him join his wife and the children in the garden.

"Well, Ginny had six of those, and George here is the most easy-going of the bunch. Come on, let's go outside. I want to introduce you to my godson Teddy properly."

Harry guided her out of the house, and they stopped to observe Holly and Teddy playing in the distance.

"They look like they are really enjoying themselves there…" Annabel said while they both enjoyed watching the snowball war that was happening in front of them.

"They seem so innocent and happy. I wish they could remain like that forever." Harry said with a sigh.

"Do you remember when we went sledging together?" Annabel asked smiling at him.

"_How would I forget_? It was the best Christmas I ever had in Little Whinging."

"I think that it was that day that I started to fall in love with you." She said abruptly without thinking twice. When she realized what she had said, their eyes met in such an intense way, that looked like fire sparkles. Harry took some of his Gryffindor courage and said.

"I think I first started to fall in love with you months before that, at your birthday party."

Annabel felt her heart beating fast after this comment, but she did not look away from his eyes for not even a second.

"So… you had a girlfriend at that night we slept together at your Aunt's house?"

"No, I broke up with Ginny before that."

"You never told me that you had a _girlfriend_ that time we were apart."

"Well, you never asked me."

There was a brief moment of silence where Annabel bitted her lips while she was considering whether she should ask him the question that was burning inside her.

"Do you love this _Ginny_?"

"_What kind of question is that?_" Harry said giving her a closed lip smile.

A deadly silence engulfed them and it felt once again that the time had stopped. The noise of the children playing, the cold wind hitting their faces, everything that was happening around them stopped been fully proceeded by their brains. If any of them was in doubt if the other one still had feelings from their old relationship, these doubts died at that moment. As much as they had tried to suffocate their passionate teenager love, it had remained dormant and stored in the heart of both. It was as if somebody had set on fire a ship full of gunpowder. And it finally was about to explode.

But before any of them could say or do anything, a snowball hit Harry straight on his face. The two adults turned and saw the two children and exchanging an accomplice smirk.

"Let's show these youngsters how to do it properly," Harry said smirking to Annabel.


	21. Wards, lasagne and wine

The rest of the morning went as smoothly as they could have hoped it to be. The Weasley's didn't mind going out and leaving Harry at their place with the children and Annabel. This meant that besides the snowball war, Holly and Teddy could also have a go on the new broom that the girl had got from her father. After having a hard time making up a story to explain to Teddy why Holly had got a new broom and he hasn't, the three of them had a nice time flying together.

Harry felt very emotional when he saw Holly flying on her brand new broom for the first time, as it made he remember his first time in a broom at the Hogwarts grounds. He felt that despite her young age, she would be able to handle an adult's broom, but he didn't want to risk handing his Firebolt to her, as different from the child version, she could to leave the wards with it.

Teddy and Holly took turns to flying on the girl's new broom, while the other would fly with Harry. Annabel sat in an old tree trunk while she watched Harry interacting with the children. Realizing how naturally great he was with them, she could not help but think about how their lives would have been if she had married Harry instead of Geoffrey. Just before they head off to the Ministry of Magic, Harry invited Annabel for a flight, which she politely refused claiming to have a fear of heights, when in reality all she wanted was to avoid physical contact with the Auror.

When they arrived at the Ministry, Harry took them to the cafeteria inside the Magical building so they could have some lunch before Annabel's and Holly's testimony time. Teddy was very excited since this was his first on-site visit to the place where his mother had once worked.

"Pumpkin soup, pumpkin juice, pumpkin pie... is it even possible to find a menu with more pumpkins than this?" Annabel comment once they sat together at a table hidden in a corner.

"I'm not sure whether it's a myth Pumpkin does contain some important nutrients for wizards and witches…" Harry answered while he eats his sandwich.

"Hey, Potter! Why are you hiding there in the corner? Oh, is this Dora's little boy?"

"Hi, Davis. As always, I am trying to be discreet. Have you read the lovely article Ms Skeeter wrote about me this morning? Yes, this is Teddy Lupin."

"I much prefer your blue than your mother's bright pink Teddy… I was only a couple of years ahead of Tonks. Your mother and I were put to work together as partners a couple of times…"

The boy remained in silence, but Harry could tell that he was interested in the man who had once worked with his mother.

"Davis, would you mind to do me a favour? I know we are all very busy with this case, but Annabel and Holly here need to give their testimony in half an hour and I'll lead a meeting about their security at the same time… would you mind keep an eye on Teddy for me?"

"It will be a pleasure! I can show Teddy some of Dora's old work, and perhaps I could bring him to Mr Robards office and he can meet Mad-Eye's portrait. If I'm not wrong he was your mother's mentor… I'm sure he has some fun stories about her that he can share with us."

Teddy seemed very happy with the idea as the same time Harry was relieved, as he had been worrying about where he would leave the boy as it wasn't very appropriate for him to be in any of the meetings. Harry left Annabel and Holly on the Ministry cabinet, which was the place where they would give their testimony.

"Kingsley, I'm very happy that you will be present in their testimony. As you probably know I need to be somewhere else during it, and I wouldn't be comfortable if anyone else but you were here with them."

"Don't worry Harry. I doubt that something will happen here in my cabinet, but if it does, you know that I will protect them with my own life, don't you?" The Ministry said in a low voice so only Harry could hear him.

"I know. That's the only reason why I'm going to my meeting with a peaceful mind. Now I better go otherwise I will be late to my own meeting…"

Once Harry arrived at the Auror's Meeting Room B, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean Thomas, Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones and Draco Malfoy were already there waiting for him. Harry quickly sat down in the chair intended for the meeting leader.

"Well, I think that everyone except my architect is here already. If you are here is because you've been invited by me to be part of the guard of…"

"Why have you invited me here, Potter?" Draco Malfoy asked him with his usual air of superiority "I'm not even an Auror! I don't even work on the Law Enforcement Department…"

"Wow, I must be very ill, because for the first time since forever I'm agreeing with Malfoy! What the hell is he doing here?" Ron Weasley asked feeling almost offended by the possibility that Harry was suggesting for them to work with their old school rival.

"Ron, chill out, please! Draco… we've never been best mates, but I can't deny that although you fought on the wrong side during the war, you have combat experience. However, what most valuable for me, is your knowledge about dark wizards. You grew up with them, lived for several years with them and in the end, was even forced to become one of them…"

"Harry! I can't believe you are going to allow this ferret to be part of your dau… ouch! I mean, your adorable witnesses…" Ron quickly tried to repair the damage after Hermione kicked him from under the table.

"Ron, I trust Draco. If I didn't, he wouldn't be here." Ron was about to protest when they were interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

"Hi! I'm sorry for being late, but I had some trouble trying to find which room was the meeting." Said a witch called Alicia Wardwell, the Auror that had tried to calm Geoffrey down on the prior night.

"Hi, Alicia. I'm sorry, I really don't mean to be rude, but I don't remember to have put your name on the list I've sent to Mr Robards this morning…." Harry said feeling a little bit uncomfortable.

"It was Mr Robards who sent me here; he thought you might find my presence here helpful, as I volunteered to be Mr Harrisson's guard last night…"

"Oh yes, sure. Please have a seat. Was he too difficult to deal with after I left?"  
"I'm not going to lie; he was a little bit difficult, yes. He does not seem to like you very much…"

"Did he tell you why he doesn't like me?" Harry asked the senior Auror.

"He didn't. Why? Is it relevant to the case?"

"No. I mean, not really. Anyway, just before you arrived I was informing everybody in this room is going to be part of the guard of the underage witch Holly, her mother the muggle Annabel, and the muggle Geoffrey..." Harry sighed with frustration when he heard that somebody else was knocking on the door. "Come in."

Harry, as well most of the people inside the room seemed to be very uncomfortable when the curly red-haired woman joined their meeting room.

"Miss Edgecombe, may I ask what are you doing here?" Harry asked, feeling annoyed by her presence.

Marietta Edgecombe looked down her feet feeling very uncomfortable, as she probably recognized many faces in the room as part of the Dumbledore's Army, which one day she had snitched. Once Marietta noticed that Hermione Granger was in the meeting, the young witch unconsciously brought her hand to some of the scars that remained visible from Granger's old jinx. Harry couldn't help but feel proud of his best friend magical abilities.

"I've got this letter calling for a specialist in harmonic concealment between magical and muggle places…"

"Please, don't tell me that you are my architect…" Harry said placing both of his hands on his head in a sign of frustration.

"Maybe the owl I've sent to your company didn't arrive in time, but I think that I specifically requested that Jane Morgan take this project." Hermione gave an inquisitive glare to the former Ravenclaw student.

"Yes, Granger, we've received your letter, but Jane is on leave at the moment and she is not going to be back until the end of next month. Her brother John is recovering from a poorly brewed potion… he is also not an option for the next couple of weeks." Marietta told them before she sat on the furthest seat from Hermione available.

Despite Marietta's attempts at trying to look confident when she talked with her former school peers, she was clearly feeling extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation. Harry, however, didn't make any effort in hiding his frustration for having to rely on the help of someone that he doesn't trust.

"Have signed the confidentiality contract?" Harry asked in an almost accusative tone. Marietta nodded in confirmation feeling very embarrassed with the whole situation.

"I guess you can imagine what will happen to you if you break any of the terms them," Hermione said looking her deeply in the eyes. Marietta's skin went pale in shock after hearing this new piece of information.

"I guess that we'll be forced to work together, then," Harry said throwing some parchments on the table with a bit of violence.

"Harry if you are ok with that, I would like to work with Marietta on this project. I think that learning a bit about harmonic concealment between magical and muggle places could be very handy, my parents being muggles and all…" Hermione said that giving him a meaningful look.

"Sure. I'm very happy to have both of you working together." Harry answered feeling a bit calmer once he knew that at least Hermione would be watching the sneak closely.

"It certainly will be a pleasure to work with you," Marietta said looking like there was nobody else that she would hate more having to work with.

"Right. Let's start with Miss Edgecombe task first, then." Harry said standing up and pointing his wand to the centre of the table, making a small 3D model from Annabel's house appear on the table. "Some of you probably remember this house from last night. Yes, that's right, it's the house that was attacked; we are going to be protecting the muggles and the underage witch who lives there. That's the reason why we need Miss Edgecombe here… what's your question, Ernie?" Harry asked the former Hufflepuff, who had raised his hand.

"Er… Harry, I don't want to contest your decision, but why don't you just move the family to a house located in an area where it would be easier to cast the protection spells?"

Harry stopped to think about what would be the best way to answer this question without giving too much information away.

"Well… let's say that the underage witch mother is a little bit pissed off for having to change her family lifestyle for a while, and I have my reasons for wanting to be in her good book. If it's possible to maintain them at their house, I will do the best to get it done. So… this brings me to again to Miss Edgecombe – I need this house to have all protection that is available without disturbing the muggles who live nearby and inside that place. Can you do it?"

"Well, we can always adapt most of the muggle family equipment so it will work with magic instead of using electricity; but I must warn you that things like television, computers and radio are always a bit complicated to deal with – for example, the TV might get only one channel. Which protective spells are you planning to cast over their residence?" Marietta asked in a very professional tone.

"All the heavy stuff available. Protego Maxima, Fianto Duri and Repello Inimicum; oh yes and the Fidelius too."

"Harry, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I don't think that we are allowed to cast the Fidelius for people who are on witness protection..." Susana Bones said lifting her eyes from her own notes.

"In this particular case, I assure you that it is going to be allowed," Harry answered his old school classmate. "So Marietta; how quickly do you think that you can finish this project?"

Marietta bit her lips tense before answering his question.

"Well, those are very strong charms – and especially combined with the Fidelius, it's going to be difficult to equilibrate the energy fields against magical interference on the nearby houses. This is not an easy task…"

"Can you do it?" Harry said after cutting her sharply.

"Of course I can do it! But you know, there is a protocol that needs to be followed on this kind of situations; we'll need an assessment from the Muggle rights authority, as we might have to move some of their close neighbours for a couple of days…"

"I'm sure that Arthur can help us to speed up this process," Hermione said making a note in her personal diary. "If I can get all this paperwork done before the end of the day, how many days do you reckon it would be necessary for the muggles to move back to their house? Three? Five?"

"If you are going to help me to speed up the process, one week is probably a good guess,"

"Good! This part is sorted them. You may wait for Hermione outside now Marietta, as I need to discuss some other confidential security measures with the rest of the group…"

Marietta quickly stood up and left the room without waiting for a second invitation.

"Until their house is ready I will personally be taking care of the muggle Annabel and my… and the underage witch, Holly. Alicia, if you don't mind carrying on being in charge of Geoffrey's until that time, it would be extremely helpful..."

"That's fine with me Harry. But why don't you put all the family together? I have enough spare rooms at mine that will easily accommodate them all with comfort. The poor muggle man is missing his family to bits…"

"Sorry Alicia, but this is going to be done as I said. For now, we are going to keep them separated. Ron, Hermione and Neville will be helping me, and Ernie, Susan and Dean will be helping you to form a guard-schedule whenever we need a break or have the need to attend meetings here at the Ministry…"

"Again, why do you need me here, Potter?" Malfoy asked looking slightly bored.

"Draco, firstly I would love to see you on the Auror's debriefing meeting tomorrow. Yes, I know that you are not an Auror, but I thought that you might be able to recognize a couple of faces. I know your family used to hang around the wrong kind of people, I thought you might be able to spot something that we don't."

"Harry, so what's the plan once their house is finally safely warden? Are we going to be guarding them there instead?" Alicia asked him interested.

"Yes. I was thinking in a two-to-one to the adults and a one-to-one Auror to the child; I was also thinking about regular and irregular patrolling of their neighbourhood working together with the team in the house, in an A-to-B scheme. I also thought about adding some extra security measures as recognizing questions and scanning for dark curses and spells every time there is a change in the patrol. And of course, I'm also open to suggestions that would like to an increase of their security."

"I don't want to sound prejudice, and as you know my parents were muggles, but don't you think that this is a lot of effort for protecting a single-family? Especially considering the fact that they are here giving their testimony now. I mean, what makes you so sure that they are still in danger?" Dean Thomas carefully asked.

Harry felt frustrated while he looked at his friends' faces. Everybody apart from Ron and Hermione seemed to think that Dean's had a point.

"Tomorrow at the debriefing meeting it will be clear why they need to be protected. Meanwhile… you can all return to work in whatever you were doing, of course, giving priority to assisting me and Alicia into your schedule ever time it is requested…"

One by one the Aurors started to leave the room, leaving Harry alone in the end with Ron and Hermione. Ron was the one who spoke first after giving Harry a gentle tap on the shoulders.

"Mate… how are you doing? How was the talk between you and…?"

"It could have been worse," Harry said with a sigh. "We both always had so many disagreements, but in the end, it was a big misunderstanding that ended up broken us apart. Do you believe that when I saw that jerk proposing her, it was the first time he ever told her about his feelings to her? And worse than that, she refused to marry him that day just after I left."

"Oh, Harry! That's awful what happened between you two." Hermione sighed.

"Does Ginny knows?" Ron asked.

"No… you know that Ginny is abroad right now, and this is not the kind of stuff that you can just write down in a letter. But I told your parents this morning."

"Are you going to break up with her?" Ron asked as impartial as he could.

Harry took a deep breath before answering his best mate question.

"I… I don't know Ron. I'm not going to lie to you. Seeing Annabel again after all those years made me see that somehow I still have feelings towards her. But we both moved on. She is married and I'm with your sister now..." Harry said in what he hoped to be a very confident voice.

"Well... someone from the team found this yesterday while searching their house for bewitched objects..." Ron said removing one a single red rose from his magically extended pockets. Harry immediately recognised the enchanted flower that he had given to Annabel years ago.

" I... I can't believe she kept it after all this time..."

"This is... the proof of love spell, isn't Harry?" Hermione said while she examined the rose.

"Yes... I guess... I always thought that I had moved on from her, but... apparently, I haven't"

"Harry, you are my best friend and I really want you to be happy. But Ginny is my sister. Please, play a fair game with her, ok?"

"Come on Ron, I always have treated Ginny with the utter most respect. I don't intend to start doing it any different now"

"And how did Holly take the news? Is she accepting you as her father?" Hermione asked him concerned.

"She doesn't know it yet. Annabel thought it was best for her to get to know me better before we tell her the truth."

"It's sensible… but at the same time, you don't want to risk her finding it out by other sources that are not you or her." Hermione reasoned.

"Yes, that's what I told Anna. Honestly, I think the fact that she accepts that Holly needs to know is a progress. Let's not forget that she was denying telling me the truth yesterday. But Holly is being very receptive to me; I gave her a children's broom and took her for a flight this morning – she is really good at it."

"Do you think that they finished giving their witness report? I'm very curious to see your daughter as I barely saw her yesterday…" Ron asked hopefully.

"Sure. Let's see if they've finished."

When they left the meeting room, Hermione left their company to join Marietta on their little project. While they walked through the Auror's individual cubicles, Harry wasn't surprised when he spotted the Minister playing with Holly and Teddy by his own desk. Annabel was sitting on a chair while she was been examined by a healer. Holly was the first of the kids to spot Harry, and she dashed to run in the direction of the man that she still did not know to be her biological father.

"Harry!" Said the small girl while raised her arms, silently asking to be held. Harry smiled back at her and lift her off the ground.

"Ron, this is Holly," Harry said to his best friend with a grin so big that went from ear to ear.

"Wow mate, she is so pretty! Well done!"

It didn't take long for Teddy to notice Harry's presence for the young boy run in his Godfather direction as well. He looked a bit disappointed when he found that Holly was on a place that used to be only his. However, the Minister who seemed to notice that Teddy was feeling a bit left out and quickly reached the four-year-old and held him in the same way that Harry was holding Holly.

"I hope that your meeting has been productive…" Kingsley said to Ron and Harry.

"Well, it wasn't bad, but it could have been better. How about Holly and Annabel's testimony? It finished fast!" Harry said impressed.

"Yes, Annabel allowed us to extract her and Holly memories, so it was pretty straightforward really. I'm sure that you'll be happy to know that those two here have been behaving extremely well. Two little angels, that's what they are." The Minister said with a grin.

"I will have to remember to tell this to Andromeda. Why is Anna being examined by healers? Did something happen while I was away?" Harry asked concerned while he was observing Annabel by distance.

"No, no. It's just a follow-up checkup for making sure she is still doing Ok. You know, the Cruciatus curse that she was hit with yesterday." Kingsley said casually.

Harry tried to maintain a blank expression at the same time he felt his heart sink with the Minister words. He couldn't avoid to curse himself mentally for what had happened to her last night and for the past couple of years. That's was when he noticed that Annabel was saying goodbye to the healer.

"Ron, Kingsley? Would you two mind helping me take these three home?"

"It will be a pleasure." Ron promptly answered.

"Of course! It is just a shame that I'm going be able to stay for tea. But I think that you can understand." Kingsley said smiling.

Harry was glad to have the Minister help them to get back to the safety of his very well warded flat. After all, Kingsley was still a very good duelist, and the possibility of an ambush was not to be ignored. Annabel smiled at him while she approached their group and Harry reproved himself as felt his heart beating fast with her presence. He smiled back at her, and he noticed that her cheeks turned red almost immediately.

Despite denying to those who asked if they still had some emotional involvement, Harry knew that deep inside they still nourished feelings for each other. Annabel had given clear signs that she too had not forgotten the times they had spent together. He barely could wait to be alone with her again and be able to confront her about these feelings.

* * *

"This phone connection is terrible! Did you say that you and Holly are staying with Harry? Do you mean my cousin Harry?" Annabel rolled her eyes in frustration. She was standing on the balcony of Harry's flat trying to contact Dudley Dursely, who also happened to be her business partner. Despite she been used to Dudley slowness in catch obvious things, right now this was getting on her nerves.

"Yes, your cousin Harry! _How many Harry Potter's do we know_? But please tell me, how is his assistant doing? Is Kreacher managing everything well?"

"Oh, my Goodness! Are you with Harry? How is he doing? Is he all right? Where does he live?" Dudley said completely ignoring her questions.

"He is fine." she replied reluctantly "He works as a sort of magic policeman and he is living in a very nice flat somewhere I have no idea where it is…"  
She said while she looking puzzled to the city area below her. At the same time that she couldn't recognize where she was, the place seemed to be familiar, as if she could have walked down that pavement for an uncountable number of times. At the same time, she had a feeling that she could be anywhere in the world. She correctly assumed that there was probably something magical to do with the fact that she was completely clueless about her location.

"Anna? Bel? Did you hear what I just ask you? This line is horrible… did Harry know that Holly was his daughter?" Annabel was taken back by his words.

"How the hell did you know that? I didn't even tell Matt about it!"

"Oh, I lived with my cousin during seventeen years, haven't I? She looks just like him, it wasn't hard to figure it out."

Annabel sighed in frustration. If even Dudley had figured this out, probably many other people would suspect that too.

"He found out yesterday." She started slowly. "There was an accident with Holly in the Natural History Museum. Apparently, some dangerous dark wizards might be after us. That's why we will have to stay with Harry for a while until this Magic police catch them."

"Bloody hell, please don't tell me that You-Know-Who is back?"

"Who?" Annabel asked confused

"You-Know-Who!" Dudley said a bit louder.

"Er… no, I don't?" Annabel told him confused.

"The crazy man who murdered Harry's parents. Haven't him told you about it?"

"Oh yes, he told me about him. He is the one who has a funny name, right? I always forget what his name is..."

"Don't say it! You can't say his name anyway because there is a taboo curse on it anyway. Once Dad said it because Hestia was…" Dudley started but was abruptly cut by Annabel.

"Dudley we don't have much time, so please just tell me how are the things going there? Is Harry's assistant doing a good job with the food?"

"Being honest I wouldn't have noticed that you aren't here if you haven't called me to tell it. Whoever is making the food have locked themselves in the kitchen, so we couldn't really see them. But the food is coming up nicely as always. I found it a bit weird when you've sent the rest of your team home with a note on the door; I thought you were having a 'bad hair day', or something equally silly for not wanting to speak to us."

"'A bad hair day'? Really?" Annabel said rolling her eyes as she felt completely outraged by his comment.

"What? Should I have guessed that the reason I couldn't come in was that my freaking cousin's friend was doing some 'hocus pocus' in the kitchen?"

"Dudley! Harry is not a freak…"

"Sorry… It's just bad habits are hard to die. Does Geoffrey knows you are with Harry?"

"I'm not sure, but I think he probably knows…" She said thinking about the article she had glimpsed earlier.

"Poor fellow, he has been planning that Anniversary surprise for you on the past couple of months!"

"_Oh shit_! I completely forgot my Anniversary with Geoffrey! It's tomorrow isn't?" She barely could believe her memory lapse.

"Yes. He was going to take you to a surprise five-day break holiday to the Lake District. So yeah, we were prepared to be without you for the next couple of days. Do you think that you'll be longer than that until you return?"

"I don't know really. Harry doesn't seem sure of when I will be able to get back. I think that if you could find somebody else to help you would be ideal."

"I see… I will ask the fellow that is going to be covering you for the next couple of days to…" Dudley's voice was sharply cutter from the line and replaced by the unwelcome sound of an engaged landline.

"_Damn it_!" She cursed just before she headed back to Harry's flat. The five minutes that the young Auror had grated her were over.

Harry had explained that she could only stay five minutes on the phone, as he had to lower the wards in order for her to be able to use the muggle-mobile phone, - as he had called it. She was about to complain to him about the brusque way that the call had finished without any warning when her heart melted with the sight of Harry, Holly and Teddy playing together at his living room. Harry was tickling Holly's tummy, which made the girl let scape a tiny winged golden ball, that Annabel didn't know was called snitch.

"Oh no, Holly! Look, you let the snitch go flying again!" Harry said while he carefully placed the young girl on the ground, and started to try to catch it without a broomstick.

"It's not fair! _You tickled me!_" The girl complained while she ran to the place where her small broomstick had been waiting. "_UP_!" She demanded and the small broom started to hover by her side. Once the girl was flying, Harry and Teddy were trying to stop the girl to get the snitch, but Annabel sensed that they couldn't be trying very hard as she got her hands on it again in less than fifteen seconds. Annabel felt her heart beating fast when Holly landed centimetres away from the edge of Harry's dining table.

"Be careful!" Annabel screamed from the opposite side of the room. Harry, however, wasn't looking very concerned, he actually seemed very pleased with Holly's natural ability in controlling so well her broomstick.

"It is my turn to fly now!" Teddy said eagerly.

"Harry, do you have any plans for super? I was looking inside your kitchen cabinets and I think that I can make some lasagne or tortelloni..."

"Lasagne! Lasagne! Lasagne!" Holly and Teddy requested in a chorus.

"I think that lasagne is the winner then," Harry smiled and quickly added. "Does this means that I am finally going to learn the special recipe of your Grandmother's prize-winning lasagne?"

"You wish, Potter. So, who is going to help me today?" Annabel said looking at the children who quickly responded.

"_Me! Me! Me!_"

"I wish my colleagues would have half of this enthusiasm every time I ask a favour at the office..." Harry smiled at the scene. "I would love to help out too. So, what shall I do, _chef_?"

"If you could start chopping off some onions, garlic and red pepper for me it would be great, Harry."

Harry simply waved his wand and the ingredients that she had requested flew to the kitchen surface and started to chop themselves.

"Done! What's next?" Harry gave her a cheeky grin.

"_Show off!_" Annabel rolled her eyes. "Maybe you can help Holly to measure and sieve the flour while I help Teddy to break the eggs?"

"Oh, we are making dough from the scratch? I haven't done this in ages!"

"Of course we are! Who do think I am?"

"Come on Holly, let's show these two how to do properly flour measurement"

"_Cheeky_!" Annabel answered with a wink.

Harry answered her by throwing some flour at her face making both children to bursting into a laugh. She answered by throwing one egg straight to his face.

"Oh no! _Is this a war?_" Harry said while he cleaned his glasses with his wand. " You are going to regret that!"

* * *

After a few minutes laugh, accompanied by flying ingredients which made everybody getting covered in flour, eggs and cheese, Harry and Annabel decided to make peace and resumed the task of cooking themselves a meal. This time, Annabel and Teddy were taking care of the dough, while Harry and Holly were making the lasagne filling and the tomato sauce. Sometimes Annabel would stop to give him some advice and requests, and sometimes Harry would use his magic to speed up the cooking process. After they put the lasagne in the oven - as Annabel did not trust Harry's wand to do the job - Harry removed most of the dirt from his and Annabel's body with a wave of his wand, but they decided that the children should have a proper bath together before eating as they were all covered in flour and eggs, and their bed-time was approaching.

It was another fun moment when both kids played together inside the small bath with Teddy's enchanted bath toys. Both adults were there watching and playing with them.

"I'm a little fish!" Teddy said dunking his head into the water.

"I'm a little mermaid, _like Ariel_."

"Shall I give you some fins?" Harry asked the children.

"_YES!_"

"Harry, I think that the lasagne must be ready, or almost ready by now. Do you think you can manage to take both of them out the bath by yourself?"

"Of course! Hey guys, who want to help me make another bed in your room? Who is going to sleep in the new bed?"

Annabel left them confident that Harry had everything under control and went back to the kitchen to find that the lasagne was indeed, ready to be eaten. As she believed that even with magic Harry was likely to be a while to come back with the kids, she decided to use this extra time to make some chocolate mousse, as it was one of her quickest desserts, as both a treat and a surprise for them.

The dinner went smoothly. Both children got on really well, and they did keep each other company. By the time everyone finished eating the desserts, both children already looked nacked and ready to sleep for the night. Harry and Annabel did not waste time sending both children to brush their teeth and tuck them under their respective duvet after Harry tell them the story of how he had got a golden egg from a dragon during the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts.

Annabel watched this scene from the doorway of the children's room with a smile on her lips. Harry seemed to have a natural talent when it came to nurturing kids. She felt a mixture of feelings - happy that Holly was going to have such a caring father from now on, but also sad for the time they had lost together. Harry placed a kiss on the forehead of both children and walked out of the room, to find Annabel waiting for him.

"That was easy," Harry said while they walked back to the kitchen and living room area of his flat.

"Well, you certainly made that look easy," She said grabbing a cloth to wipe the kitchen surface. "Was that true? Did you really have to steal a dragon egg at your school?"

"Yes, I did have to do that. It was one of those school projects that I could never tell you about..." Harry said waving his wand to make the dishes to wash itselves in the sink.

Annabel looked at it feeling baffled.

"I'm not sure if I will ever get used to magic. Why don't you share your gift with us, the non-magical people?"

"Well... some people say that it is due to the fact that some muggles can be afraid of magic, whereas others say that wizards are the ones who are afraid of muggles. I'm not sure why this rule exists. I always hated having to keep secret from you about this... which is such a huge part of who I am"

Harry said while he topped up their glasses with the red wine he had opened during their meal. Annabel stopped cleaning and accepted her glass taking a sip before she carried on their conversation.

"You know, Duddley said hello. He told me that he wasn't surprised at all that Holly was your daughter. He said that he always knew it."

"Duddley? You mean my cousin Duddley?" Harry almost choked with his own wine.

"Yes, the one and only. He works with me know. It was him that I called earlier to ask him if Kreacher was doing everything all right at that wedding"

"Big D working on wedding buffets. This must be the end of the world!"

"Aw, come on, Duddley is a softy. You should get to know him better. He is dense, but he does have a good heart, you know? Well, Matt wouldn't have feel for him if he didn't"

"Wow! _Are you serious_? Is Duddley...?" Harry was really struggling to keep a serious face.

"Yeah! Duddley is totally gay. This is the '_dirty_' I had on him by the way. _Honestly_, I can't believe you never figured it out"

"How did... how did my uncle and aunt reacted to this? Do you know any details about it?"

"Oh dear, not very well. Duddley told them just before he left home to live with Matt. Your uncle he was... well... not pleased. He blamed Petunia for being too soft with him and he left home. Petunia she... she is in total denial of the whole thing. The last time I saw it was when I had to go back to Little Whinging due to a problem with my tenants. She is living in an imaginary world where she still waits for Vernon to go back to dinner and truly believes that Duddley is an investment banker living in London. Don't even try to tell her that is not the case, she won't buy it"

"Wow... I should really pay her a visit at some point"

"Yes, you should. Maybe we could go back there together. I would love to walk around there with you again"

"That would be lovely"

The conversation died off and both adults seemed focused on their own wine. Until Annabel noticed that Harry still had a little bit of chocolate on the corner of his lips and she could not resist to wipe it off with her own hands. Harry gave her an inquisitive look as he placed his own hands on top of hers.

"You have... some chocolate..." She said closing her eyes, not daring to see his green eyes getting closer and closer from her hazelnut ones.

Memories of their early moments together invaded both of their minds. Cupcakes, unwatched films, secret meetings on the moonlight, sharing a single bed on the smallest room of the number four. Desire, passion and love all bursting together on their chests. Their foreheads were touching and Harry's hand started to caress her hair in a way that they haven't for more than four years. Annabel's legs were shaking, and she couldn't avoid one single tear to escape from her closed eyes. Harry then kissed her eyes and whispered in her ear.

"_Bel_..."

She then turned her face to him and kissed him passionately, which he answered on the same intensity. Wine glasses were forgotten on the breakfast bar. Hands were travelling each others' body faster and needy as they never had before. They momently forgot about everything else. Ginny, Geoffrey, Holly, the criminals who were on their tail. There were only him, her and the love they felt for each other.


	22. Operation T-rex

None of them would know how long that kiss had last. Probably long enough to make them lose their breath, get dizzy with their own kaleidoscope of emotions and feelings. And likely too short to satiate their need for each other's bodies and soul. Harry was pressing Annabel's body hard against the wall, and they both could feel every single inch of the other. Desiring... needing... inviting.

"Harry..." Annabel said in a whisper as she broke their kiss and looked at him in the eyes, caressing his cheeks and jaw with one hand and holding his hair with the other.

"Bel..." Harry mirrored her gesture and started to stroke her short hazel curls. She looked different, with her modern haircut and business clothes, but she somehow still looked the same... she felt the same.

"_We shouldn't_..." Annabel whispered more to herself than to him.

"W_e should_" Harry answered by bringing their foreheads gently together. "If we had any doubt of what we were feeling, I think that what just happened between us is a damn good answer"

"The fact that we both still have got strong feelings for each other doesn't mean that we should do_ this_." She told him sadly, slowly pushing him back and escaping from his tight embrace. "_In fact_, I can think on about a million reasons why we shouldn't"

Annabel turned her back to him, trying to walk away, but he held her hand, preventing her to do so.

"I don't care for any of them"

"Well... but I think you shou..."

But they were silenced with the sight of green flames coming out of what Annabel had previously thought to be a modern decorative fireplace. Harry quickly wiped the lipstick from his face with his wand. And what followed next made Annabel be completely gobsmacked - a beautiful red-haired woman came out of the green flames, and graciously landed on Harry's carpet. Annabel quickly tried to hide her figure behind Harry, as the museum memories of another red-haired witch were still vivids, haunting her mind. Harry tried to calm down a panicky Annabel, at the same time he tried to acknowledge and welcome Ginny back with his body language. Ginny noticed Annabel's presence in the room, but she didn't look concerned about it. She removed her cloak and magically hanged it in a coach hanger that was present in Harry's hall.

"Hello honey, are you not going to give me a welcome home kiss?"

Harry walked some small steps towards Ginny but was still not nearly enough to greeting her with any form of a kiss.

"Hi, Ginny. How was the match?"

"Not great. Our keeper was knocked out by a bludger at the beginning of the match. We still scored more than they did though... unfortunately their seeker got the snitch first. It was a tight score, but they won the match for only twenty points!"

"Aw, that is annoying..."

"They didn't deserve to win if you ask my opinion about it. Their team was very_ slack, _only their seeker was a decent player_._ But as the score difference wasn't very big we still have a good chance to win the cup. How about you? How have you been? Mum and Dad told me that you had a duel last night... are you all right? Did you get injured?"

"No, thankfully not. Hermione injured her hands, but it was nothing really serious"

"So... are you one of the witnesses that Harry is protecting?" Ginny said addressing Annabel for the first time since she got inside the room. "I'm Ginny, Harry's girlfriend"

Ginny offered her hand for Annabel to shake. Annabel who was still in the corner of the room slowly approached the red-haired witch and accepted her handshake.

"Hi. I'm Annabel. Harry's... Harry's_ witness_" She said the last bit of her sentence exchanging a meaningful glance with Harry.

"Yes, I read the news that a muggle boy died, right?" Ginny asked addressing both adults.

"Yes, it was, unfortunately..." Harry answered.

"Do you have any idea what they were after?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Sorry, er... Ginny. I'm feeling a bit of a headache. I think... I think that I should go to bed... and have an early night..."

"Nevermind. I'm sure we can catch up more during breakfast. Have a good night" Ginny said waving her goodbye as the muggle left Harry's living room and walked up the stairs where the bedrooms were located.

"So honey, what have you made for supper tonight?" Ginny asked as she walked towards the kitchen.

"There is a vegetable lasagne and some chocolate mousse for dessert"

"Cool. Let's set the table then. I'm starving!" And she waved her wand making plates fly over and set itself in a dinner for two at the dinner table.

"Oh, sorry Ginny, I've already eaten"

"But you always wait for me..."

"Well... today I didn't. I eat with Annabel, Holly and Teddy. We cooked it together,"

"Oh, is Teddy here? _Who is Holly_? Is she your other witness?" Ginny asked casually while she was serving some lasagne on her plate.

Harry sat down on the table in front of her and took a deep breath.

"Well... she _also_ is a witness, _but_..." He stopped middle sentence unsure of how to drop the news to his girlfriend. Everything he could do was thinking about was what he had been doing with Annabel a few minutes ago. And how it had made him feel good. And how awkwardly weird it felt now - to be watching Ginny to eat her dinner, after everything that had happened.

"But...?" She asked to prompt Harry to carry on. "Harry, you are looking so odd. What is going on?"

"I..." Why was he finding it so hard to say what he clearly wanted to say? "Maybe I should wait until you finish eating your dinner"

"Mum and Dad told me that you were going to tell me something very important tonight," Ginny said looking smug.

"Oh, did they?"

"Yes! And... well... I have a feeling that I _kinda_ know what is this going to be about..."

"Oh! _Do you!?"_ Harry said with his eyes widely opened in shock. Did Arthur and Molly somehow hint for her that he was Holly's father and Ginny had correctly guessed the truth?

"Yes... I think that your fear to say that is very cute, but you don't need to fear"

"Don't I?"

"Of course not, silly! We have been together for so long. And we get on really well. My family adores you. Of course that my answer is going to be yes"

"What do you mean by your answer is going to be yes?" Harry asked her feeling genuinely confused.

"What I mean is that _I do_!_ I do want to marry you, Harry!_" Ginny said euphorically.

"_What?" _It took Harry a couple of seconds for him to understand what Ginny had thought he wanted to tell her._ "_No Ginny! _I wasn't going to propose to you!_ That was not at all what I wanted to tell you!"

"_Oh... crap_!" Ginny's cheek's colour was suddenly redder than her hair. "_Merlin's pants_! I can't believe I just said that!"

"It is my fault, Ginny. I should just tell you what I need you to know once and for all. Like I did with your family and with Shacklebolt and Robards. Tip-toeing around the truth is not really a possibility with this"

"Harry... _you are scaring me_..."

"Listen Ginny - Annabel, that woman you just met she is not just a witness that I'm protecting. She is my muggle ex-girlfriend..."

"_Your ex-girlfriend?_" Ginny looked affronted "Why didn't let somebody else take care of her security!? Sharing_ our_ house with your_ ex_?"

"It is_ my_ house, I believe that your official address still is the flat you share your teammates"

"_That is beside the point!_" Ginny was still feeling furious. "_So_... those two wine glasses laying there... were you two _catching up old times?_"

Harry took a deep breath before answering her.

"_Yes, we were_. I'm not gonna lie to you. I still have feelings for her... and... I believe it is reciprocal"

"I can't believe what I am hearing!" Ginny stood up in a burst of anger and stomped her way to the fireplace. Harry also stood up, followed her and hold her hand to avoid her to leave.

"Ginny, _please_, you need to listen to me. _I'm trying to do the right thing here!_"

"_Are you trying to do the right thing_? Well, the right thing would probably involve something like '_do not invite your ex to your house_' for starts..."

"I and she had a daughter" Harry burst out making Ginny eyes open wide in shock. "I didn't know it until yesterday. These attacks... they are aimed for her... to Holly... mine and Annabel's daughter, Ginny"

"You... you had a daughter with..." This made Ginny lost her balance. She felt the shock of Harry's betrayal hit her very hard. _"Why, Harry_? _Why_? Why have you done this to me?"

"_Ginny_, this was not about you. It... it just happened ok?"

"How? When did it happen? When did you..."

"We weren't together if that is what you thinking. Holly was born during the war"

"So... this Muggle... she was the girl who you once told me that you loved...? The one who didn't love you back?" Ginny's eyes were watery, but she didn't cry. She wasn't going to crumble in front of him. Not _now, anyway_...

"Yes. She is that one that I was trying to forget. Only that it turned out that she also loved me all that time... but she believed that I was the one who had abandoned her. _Abandoned them_."

"_She is so silly_! If she knew you, half as well as I do, she would know that you would never do that!" Ginny's tears started to silently erupt from her eyes, as she found unable to contain them for any longer.

"_Ginny_..." Harry approached the red-haired witch to comfort her, and she accepted his embrace and whispered to his ear.

"She doesn't know you as well as I do. She doesn't understand you like I do. _How can she?_ She is a Muggle! She doesn't know anything about how the war was. She doesn't know anything about how does it feel like to have Tom on the back of her head!"

"Yes... maybe you are right." Harry said holding her shoulders and looking her deeply in her eyes "Maybe she doesn't know me as well as you do. But... maybe that is exactly what I need...?"

"She is not the right girl for you, Harry. _I think_... I think we both need _some space. _Some time apart to think about this. It is... just too much to anyone digest"

Harry took a deep breath to find the courage to say and do what he thought to be the right thing.

"Ginny, _listen_... I don't believe that space is going to solve the things between you and me. The truth is, I thought I was over Annabel, but I've been only making a fool of myself. I never really forgot her. Yesterday your brother Ron showed me a rose I made for Bel, years ago - the proof of love spell. The rose was still intact Ginny - _I still love her_. And... I won't deny that I and you always had a lovely relationship, but... but I can't carry on being with you when all I think about is climbing these stairs and kiss another woman"

"I think you are making a terrible mistake, Harry" Ginny said brushing him off.

"Maybe I am... I don't know Gin... but I can't carry on with you neither"

They both remained there for a while, silently looking at each other. Harry knew that breaking up wouldn't be easy, especially for Ginny for whom this news had come completely out of the blue. They always had a calm and tranquil relationship. Ginny had always been that comforting ray of sunshine that would brighten his day every time he was feeling down. But he couldn't allow himself to carry on trying to make it work with her - not after everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

"Can you... can you please ask Kreacher to bring my stuff to me whenever you have a time?"

"Sure, Gin. I will do that"

Ginny got the floo powder from a pot on top of the fireplace and entered inside it. But she turned back to face Harry before she threw the powder into it.

"_Please, Harry_... don't just jump ahead to another relationship. Give us a chance, _will you?_"

Harry looked at her, and everything he could get himself to say was a low '_Sorry, Gin_'. And before he could think, she had gone to the Burrow.

* * *

If Annabel had any doubt about if what she and Harry were doing was wrong, seen Ginny - Harry's girlfriend - coming back home just after their kiss, was all the remind she needed. Yes, _she loved the wizard_ \- that much was clear. But their situation had changed. She was married to Geoffrey now, and even though he was never quite able to turn her head over hills like Harry always seemed to do without any effort, he was a good husband for her. He had been there for her all this time. He did not deserve this. And Harry had Ginny and her family - which was clearly so dear to him. No, _they would have to learn how to control themselves around each other_.

Of course, sleeping in Harry's bed, having a shower on his in-suit bathroom and using his dressing gown to cover herself after having that shower did not help to ease her feelings for the Auror. Once she left the bathroom, she looked through the wardrobe to where Harry had transferred some of her possessions. She really wished that Harry had packed her laptop or at least some other form of distraction. It was then that she found some magical magazines hidden in a corner, and she decided to snoop around to see which kind of magazines did Harry kept hidden inside his wardrobe. Indeed, she saw a couple of magical erotic magazines, which she quickly flicked through them, as she was curious to see what sort of things he found appealing. However, the majority of the magazines were about what seemed to see a sport called Quidditch.

What wasn't her surprise when she found Ginny's picture in more than one of these magazines. Annabel then decided to read one of her interviews, and she learned that Ginny was indeed a famous Quidditch player, but despite that, lots of the questions they had asked her were about her relationship with Harry. In fact, her interviews seemed to be punctuated by questions such as _'Is it true that Mr Potter could have been a professional Quidditch player himself?', ' Do you guys get to fly together often?', 'I understand that Harry was the Quidditch captain of your house when attended Hogwarts. How would you rate his coaching style?". _Annabel rolled her eyes to all these questions. Ginny was clearly a famous player, but everything they wanted to know about seemed to be her love life with the famous Harry Potter. However, as she was curious about it, she read Ginny's answers regardless of her annoyance with the magazine's reporter. She also found a couple of magazines called The Quibbler, one, in particular, caught her attention - an interview with Harry that happened at the same year Annabel had become his official girlfriend. _  
_

She was laying on the bed and halfway through reading that article when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," She said standing up.

"Hi, Bel... I brought you some documents for you to..." But he stopped middle way his sentence, as realising that Annabel wearing nothing but his own bath gown seemed to silence him somehow.

"_Yes.._.?" She asked him. His eyes befallen to the magazine she still held.

"Oh, I see you have found my magazines..."

"Sorry for prying. I was feeling a little bit bored. So... you were a _seeker_, never a midfield player..."

"Er... yes. Just another thing about me that I never got a chance to talk about with you. But I could talk about football with you... so I did say that _white lie_"

"According to Ginny, you were pretty good. She said have easily played for England"

"I think she over-estimates my abilities a little bit. I certainly don't believe that I would be a match for Krum,"

"Do you know that my Mum used to be part of the national squad for Judo? She was going to make it to the Olimpic Games... but then... well, you know what happened... her head was a bit of a mess after her family died; sometime later she decided to become a police officer, and then... I appeared, but I don't think she had the heart to stop everything again once more. I think you both are very similar..."

"And I think that you and she are the similar ones here, Bel. I mean, _catering company_? _What happened to ballet?_ You used to breathe that thing... it was what made you alive! Why the hell did you stop?"

Annabel gave a long sigh before she started answering him.

"It is complicated, Harry. I stayed too long away when I was on the run at the United States and then when I was back with Holly, I didn't really have the time to dedicate myself to it... it wasn't like I could take Holly to a whole day of rehearsing, six days a week. If I was already a well-established ballerina, maybe it would have been easier, but that wasn't the case"

"I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you at that time. I'm sure that I would have found a way for it work out for you..."

"Don't worry about it, Harry. I'm very happy with my company. I started it when I was in a very sad place. Baby blues, and all that... not to mention our financial problems at that time. But... I love my small business. It makes me feel very proud of what I achieved in such a short time, you know? We have twenty-three employees now. And I need to hire four more people..."

"Wow, I didn't know that your company was that big!" Harry said impressed "I still can't get over the fact that Dudley is working with you... and your friend Matt. Is Matt still dancing?"

"Yes, he is indeed. Sometimes he sneaks me inside the Royal Ballet for classes, and I love it! But I'm certainly not nearly as good as I used to be. Certainly not on classical ballet. I don't believe that I will ever be a professional dancer again, even though I probably could get into it if I really wanted to do. Last year one of my school friends called me asking if I wanted to join her in a celebrity world tour, as they needed to replace someone on the last minute, and they needed someone who really knew what they were doing. But how could I leave all this behind? My business, Holly? I love dancing, but my life has taken a different turn."

"So you no longer go dancing lessons?" Harry asked curiously.

"No, I do go to some classes, it is my kind of my '_me_' time. Sometimes I go to Pineapple Studio in Covent Garden and do some random dancing classes. I've learned some very interesting styles... from hip-hop to belly dance... the last one I started to take lessons was pole dance, and it is so much fun!"

"_Wow, pole dance_! I would certainly _love_ to watch you doing that!"

Annabel blushed.

"So... what brings you here?" She said trying to change the subject of their talk.

"I just bought this documents for you to sign..."

"Documents? Which documents?" She approached him looking at the parchments he was carrying.

"Er... some documents that will recognise me officially as Holly's father," He said handing them to her. "It will allow me to recognise her as my daughter and heir, allow her to have my surname among other things. But I will need your signature if we want to go down on the easy path..."

"Harry, don't you think it is a little bit too early for that?"

"Well... everyone from the Law enforcement department is going to know the truth about her parentage tomorrow. And even with me asking confidentiality from my colleagues, I doubt that I will be able to refrain this from the press for too long. And you know... wizarding society can be a little bit conservative when it comes to some issues, and I want everyone to know that I fully accept Holly as my daughter and my heir from the start"

"I don't know, Harry. I didn't even have a chance to talk to Geoffrey about this yet... and..." She tried to look him in the eyes, but she just couldn't bear it "And after what happened today between us today, I feel like I have already betrayed his trust enough for a lifetime..."

"I just broke up with Ginny" Harry informed making Annabel's jaw drop "And it feels bloody good not having to run away from my feelings anymore, I must say..."

"_Did you broke up with her_...?"

"I can't live a lie, Bel. The truth is... I was never able to fully forget you. I tried to believe that I had... I tried to fool myself. But now, having you here with me all the time just made me realise how much I missed you and how much I still love you" Harry held her chin, trying to get her body closer to his.

"_Harry, please_! Don't do that... you know that I can't..." She closed her eyes trying not fall back on his arms. _Why he had to make it so hard for her?_

"You know, you can ask for a divorce..." Harry was caressing her hair, and Annabel knew that if she didn't pull him away from her soon, she would most certainly end up kissing him again. And by the dangerous proximity of his bed, she could well see things progressing for much more than a kiss this time.

"I'm not going to ask for a divorce, Harry. Geoffrey doesn't have anyone. Holly and I are all he has left!"

"And I also don't have anyone, Bel..."

"Well... that is true," Annabel, agreed "but at least you have some good friends. Geoffrey has an amazing gift to push people out..."

"Why does this don't surprises me?" Harry said sarcastically.

"Besides that, there was also Holly," Annabel said after ignoring his comment. "What would she say if her mother suddenly broke up her relationship with the man she always believed to be her Dad and started another one with you, Harry? Will she ever be able to understand it? _No_... I doubt that will ever be the case..."

"Bel... _she is four_. She is not going to _fully_ understand it. But she will learn to accept it. And I am her real father. She is enjoying my company, I know she is... she will accept it!" Harry was holding her very close now. Annabel could already see herself getting lost in his kisses once again.

"_Harry, please leave_," She said brushing him off "You came here to ask me to sign these papers. My answer is that I won't sign anything before I talk to my _husband_ and get some legal advice on this matter"

"Bel..." Harry begged frustrated. This was certainly not how he had hoped that this evening would end.

_"Please, just leave..."_

And so he did. However, he left the documents and a feather for her to sign on her bedside table before leaving her alone.

* * *

When Carmen arrived at their hideout carrying the day's newspaper with a grim at her face, she thought she would find Marco feeling very defeated. Instead, he was running against the clock, trying to brew three potions at the same time. Despite her slight disappointment for not finding him as she had pictured, she couldn't help but keep the silly mocking grim on her carmine lips while she wondered about how best to complement his failure from the previous evening. However, the most unexpected was the fact that he looked relieved with her presence - indifference and dissatisfaction were the feelings he usually showed in relation to her.

"I never thought I would say that, but for Merlin's beard, I'm glad to see you." He said just before putting some freshly cut ingredients in one of the cauldrons, at the same time he waved his wand to stir the other two.

"Did yesterday's fiasco damage your brain Mark? What on the three realms you think you are doing?"

"Come on beauty, this one is not even NEWT's level! I'm sure that someone like you can recognize all these…" he said pointing at the cauldrons.

"You are ridiculous if you think that I'm going allow you to lead another mission! Not even that old gaga, Dom Giuseppe, is going to want you on this case anymore. If he dares to let you in charge of this for any longer, I'm going to personally…"

"Are you going to personally do what?" Mark interrupted her brusquely with range on his eyes. "Burry him alive in a sanatorium like you did to your mother? Or are you thinking about killing him like you did to your brother and father?"

Carmen opened her eyes wide in a mist of shock a range. Nobody was supposed to know that.

"How do you…?" She started baffled "HOW DARE YOU!" She said pointing her wand straight to his face. "I'M THE HEIR OF THE NIKOLYUKIN'S AND THE GARCIA'S! How dare you, A NOBODY, A BLOODY BASTARD – have the audacity to accuse me of that?"

"Put this thing down girl, or you might end up getting hurt." Just after he said that Marco ducked in order to avoid getting hit by the killing curses that she was repeatedly casting on his direction.

"_Have you gone mad?_" He said while he was ducking from curse after curse. They were lucky that the wards he had placed on the house wouldn't let the Auror's know that unforgivable curses were being cast under that roof.

"_STOP TRYING TO KILL ME, YOU STUPID WOMAN!_" He shouted when one of her curses hit one of the cauldrons making it explode. "You know that I'm under the Rizzottone's protection, and If I'm not wrong, it's a unification that you are after, not the start of another clan war, _My Lady_." He emphasized the last bit with a sneer.

"Right, I'm going to ask your head on a stick as an engagement present to Dom Giuseppe then." Carmen finally lowered her wand "We won't have a clan war, but I still would be the responsible for the death of your miserable self."

"_Go on_, _ask that_. Maybe then he will see beyond your pretty face and realizes the sort of unscrupulous little shit you are," He said frustrated while he cleaned the mess made by the exploded cauldron "No, unfortunately for me, I know that you not going to ask him such a thing. You are way too clever to know that he'll never do that, no matter how _blinded_ by you he is."

"Why don't you go and tell him that, then? Why don't you run to your _Padrino _and let him know what a horrible person I am?"

Carmen got him right on his weak spot. Mark loved Dom Giuseppe as a Son should love a Father and that feeling was mutual. The truth was that Mark already had tried to alert Dom Giuseppe about the true colours of the young beautiful girl he was thinking of putting inside his house. He had even gathered a file full of strong shreds of evidence of her lack of character, but the old man simply didn't want to believe him. Feeling frustrated, Marco had also checked Dom Giuseppe for signs and traits of Imperious, twelve different kinds of love potions and many other spells of influence and deception. But for his despair, it had turned out the old man haven't been bewitched and was acting on his own right mind. Mark's disturbance didn't pass unnoticed to Carmen.

"_You already told him! You told him and he didn't believe you_!" She didn't make any effort to hide her grim. "You see, in the end, _true love_ always win."

"You listen carefully, _girl_ because I'm only going to say it once: If you dream of doing anything against_ anyone_ from the Rizzottoni's family, I might go to hell, but I make sure that I will take you with me. Do you understand?"

"You should be more careful with your words Mark. Saying things like that to the future wife of your _Padrino_… somebody else might think that you are treating me."

"I know you hate me, Carmen, believe me when I say it's a _mutual feeling._ I didn't like you since I saw you torturing that poor house-elf." Mark said making Carmen rolled her eyes. "But you need to remember that right now, we are on the same boat. We need the Potter's girl. And if you want to have your share on the deal you made with Dom Giuseppe, you'll need to do as you said you would. You need to provide me with_ assistance_. And some help would be extremely appreciated. _Now_!"

"First you treat me, and now you ask me for help? _Go to hell_!"

"Are you pulling off the deal?" He said smirking.

"Of course I'm not! Unlike you, I'm very capable of kidnapping a four-year-old brat."

"Well, that we shall see soon enough," He said pointing to a file that was resting on the surface he was working "my source just sent me a copy of that file..."

"_Operation T-Rex?_" Carmen asked with disdain after she read what was on the file's cover.

"Apparently it is how the Ministry is calling this case. That is a copy of all the evidence the Auror's have gathered so far on the Potter's girl case," He told Carmen, making her jaw drop "They got hold of your presence when they analysed the No-maj's memory. I don't think they have recognised you yet, but it is only a question of time. I bet somebody from a traditional family might do it tomorrow during their debrief meeting"

Carmen was very shocked by this new piece of information. She really was not expecting to have her identity uncovered any time soon.

"That bloody Muggle! I should have killed her when I had the chance!"

"Guess what? You have lost your chance. She is under Potter's personal security now. And so is the girl..."

"That is not good..." She said picking up the file and flickering over the collection of parchments inside it "after trying for centuries... millenniums! Wizards and Witches from the purest bloodlines tried to breed the perfect brat who shall restore the natural Mundial order of the universes... and the _holy high priestess_ had to be the spawn of the saviour of the wizarding world"

"It is ironic, isn't? But an undeniable proof that wizards had been ignoring their squib branches for away too long..." Marc said turning his attention back to his cauldrons. "You know that you will share your claim on the girl with Dom Giuseppe, don't you? She might be your half Great-niece twice removed, but his claim on her still greater than yours..."

"I know... but this won't be an issue for me once we get married. I will have full control over the girl. She is going to be my little doll - all mine to play with" Carmen said with a malicious smile.

"You are sick." Marco said shaking his head on a clear sign of disapproval "Anyway, nothing never going to happen if we don't get her first. Now... if you want to be kind enough to listen to my new plan..."

"Which is better be good," She said adjusting her long red hair "I'm all ears..."

* * *

Harry woke up very early at that Sunday morning, as he wanted to get into the Auror's office a little bit earlier than the time arranged for the debriefing meeting. So he left Annabel and the children sleeping under Neville's care. As Neville was going to miss Harry's revelation about Holly's real parentage at the meeting room, Harry decided to inform his old friend just how important Holly and Annabel were to him.

"She seemed to have listened to you at the museum Neville. I left her some papers for her to sign... so I can recognise Holly as my official daughter. But Annabel seemed to be a little bit wary of it. Maybe you can help her make up her mind around this?" Harry asked his friend before he left the comfort of his home to the Ministry halls. The law-enforcement department seemed to be much busier than any Sunday morning that Harry had experienced. Many of his colleagues seemed to also have arrived a bit earlier to get a chance to read the debriefing file of that case. When Harry got to his desk, he saw his own copy of the file case already waiting for him, but on top of it was a bulk envelop with nothing but the saying "_open me first_".

And so he did, just to find himself hit by a spell straight on his forehead. His head started to burn, and he felt a sudden headache to take over his body.

"_Fuck sake!_" He angrily cursed the letter while he tried to look at his own reflection by turning his hand-watch into a mirror. He saw the word '_Cheater_' was now resting on his forehead just next to his famous scar.

"_Bloody hell, George..._" Harry said pressing his fingers at the red words who seemed to be the fruit of an offensive burnt spell. He knew that sooner or later he would end up feeling the wrath of the Weasley's brothers. He just didn't think this retaliation would come so soon.

"Are you alright, there?" Alicia, the Auror who was looking after Geoffrey went to see what was going on after she heard Harry's curses. She looked shocked when she looked at his forehead "Oh, Harry! What happened with your face?"

"I'm clearly not been as careful as I should with my post, that is what happened!" Harry answered her with annoyance in his voice. "Do you know what is the counter-jinx for this hex?"

"I'm not exactly sure, Harry... I will try to see if I can fetch someone who might be more able to help you..."

Not even a minute later Hermione arrived in a rush at his desk, carrying her magic-handbag in one hand and her wand on the other.

"Oh, God! Alicia was so right. You look dreadful!" She said touching his newly-acquired scar with a professional look. "I'm not a healer, but I'm pretty sure this is a fourth-degree skin burn hex. It needs to be treated immediately, otherwise... well, you have seen Miss Edgecombe not long ago..."

"This is mean... George has definitely crossed a line this time..." Harry said with frustration, while he observed Hermione rushing to find something inside her magical handbag. "Although, I can't say that I don't deserve it..."

"Come on, let's go somewhere private," She said grabbing his hand and taking him to one of the smallest private meeting rooms that were not very far from where they were. Once they were inside, Hermione made Harry sit down and started to apply a very smelly paste on his forehead.

"So... is this all because you have broken up with Ginny last night?" Hermione asked him while she carefully applied the cream to his face.

_"How do you already know that?"_

"News travels fast inside the Weasley family, as you know. Ron is at his parents having breakfast with them. I think all Weasleys went there to support Ginny. Well, I didn't. Even though she is also my friend, I thought you could need someone here with you to talk about it too..."

"Thanks...I appreciate it" Harry said unsure what to say.

"We were under the impression that you did not want to break up with Ginny. What happened to change your mind last night?"

Harry took a deep breath while he pondered how much information should he share with her. She was his best friend, but she was also Ginny's.

"I... we... well, _we kissed last night_. Annabel and I... and... and it just felt... _so right!_" Harry told Hermione, making the witch to stop concentrating on what she was doing. "How could I carry on with Ginny...? How could I? When everything I wanted was to hold Bel on my arms and..."

"I think I get the picture..." Hermione said sitting down next to him. "So... you and Annabel are... _officially_ _having an affair now_...?"

"No, we are not. But _how I wish we were_... but no, unfortunately not. She doesn't want to betray Geoffrey's trust..."

"That is reasonable... don't you agree?"

"She doesn't want to divorce him, Hermione. Even though she does want me as much as I want her... _I can feel it_. And it is _so_ _frustrating_," He stood up and ran his hands on his hair, trying to calm himself down. "we never got a chance to fully live our story together... _not really_. There was always something between us. First, it was the distance, then me having to keep a secret about being a wizard, then it was her fear of commitment... things were never straight-forward, never nice and easy between us. We never really ended our story... because we never really properly started. And it is all so different from my relationship with Ginny..."

"_Aw, Harry_..." Hermione sighed "It is true... you and Anna always seemed to always have something holding you from each other. But you and Ginny always seemed to be such a _perfect match_ on my eyes... on everyone's eyes, really..."

"Ginny has always been a nice girlfriend, I won't deny that. She gave me comfort, she brought me peace. But I think that we already started our relationship in a wrong way. I was in love with Bel when we first started; Ginny knew that, but she said she didn't mind it... she said that she would help me to forget her... only that I never really did!" Harry turned his back to Hermione ashamed of his own actions, he felt unable to look her in the eye.

"And I admit that I was a fool by doing that. I was trying to be happy... and Ginny did bring me happiness... she was the calm breeze after the storm. With her family, I found a home, a safe base. In her arms, there were no secrets, lies or games between us. I was happy. But despite this happiness, that relationship never really fulfilled me. _Not really_... it always felt there was _something wrong_... _something not right_... _something missing_... and I tried to ignore it. I tried to ignore whenever my mind drifted off to think about Bel... I always tried to brush those thoughts off my mind. I always tried to tell myself that it was over and that I should be thinking about Ginny, and not about her. But I was never able to control these thoughts..."

Hermione approached him from behind and started to give him some gentle taps on his shoulders.

"I never knew that you and Ginny had started your relationship like this... I thought you had got over Annabel when you both started..."

"I didn't... and as I said, I have only myself to blame for allowing this to happen. Ginny deserved much better than this. But the funny thing is if Annabel and Holly had not come back to my life now, and I hadn't been forced to be near them, I would have probably been fine with Ginny... I would have married her, had children with her... and I might never ever get Bel out my mind, but I would still believe that it was because she had chosen it... b_ut now_... now I know that it was never the case..."

"Aw, Harry... it is really heartbreaking what happened with you both. And then there is Holly on top of that..."

"Yes, and she is using our daughter as another excuse for us not even try to _live thi_s. She fears that it might be too much for Holly to take it in - seeing me and her together. _Can you believe it_?"

"Oh, Harry! This situation sounds so complex. You both seem to have a good point... and there is no right or wrong... and I can't think of anything I could do to help"

"Listening to me mumbling my problems was more than I could ask for, Hermione"

"And I think that we probably should get this thing off your face now. I forgot to count, but, I'm sure that it has been more than five minutes, don't you think?"

* * *

The biggest meeting room in the Ministry was too small for the number of witches and wizards that had come to attend the meeting of the case that was now been called _Operation T-rex_. Because of that, the meeting was being held at one of the trial courts of the Wizengamont. Most members of the Auror Squad and some others employees from the Law and Enforcement department were present, but also some of the Heads of other departments seemed to have been invited. Harry was seated in a place of honour, and Hermione and Ron were both sat by his side. Harry was glad that Ron did not make any mention of his break up with Ginny when he finally arrived at the office, minutes before they all head to the courtroom. It was true that Ron was, in fact, a little bit distant, but Harry felt that it was better to let him be and not ask him anything about it.

The meeting started with Gawain Robards welcoming everybody and giving an update on the heath of the many Aurors that had got some injury during the museum battle, including the three who were still in great danger. Harry was happy to hear that they were trying to import some mandrakes from Castelobruxo in order to treat his trainee Ruby. He Gawain proceeded by giving a quick summary of everything that had happened at the museum, followed by what happened at Annabel's and Holly's house.

"Sir, do we have any lead that shows us any sign of connection between both attacks? Do we know if they were only trying to silence the witness, or is there something more?" A trainee Auror had inquired.

"_Harry?_ It is time" Gawain Robards gave him a meaningful look.

"Sure," Harry stood up and after he received a supportive nod from both his best friends, he started to talk. "Firstly I would like to ask for your discretion, as this is a very private matter for me. I didn't know at the time of the museum attack, but the Muggle-born underage witch who was present at that crime scene... well, I found out very recently that she is actually my daughter"

The news spread like gunpowder inside the courtroom. It felt like every single witch and wizard in the room were whispering about his revelation. In fact, some were not even caring for whispering and were just talking about it, as if they had completely forgotten where they were. '_Did I hear right? Potter has a _daughter_?', 'But I thought he was with that Quidditch player... Ginny Weasley, isn't she?', 'Do you think he had an affair?', 'Do you really believe that he didn't know?', 'Does he recognise her as his legitime child?', 'The girl's surname in the file is definitely not Potter...', 'So that is why he got at the crime scene so fast!_'.

"Order! Order!" Mr Robard asked by magically raising his voice louder. "This is a serious meeting from the Auror Squad, not a staff meeting from the _Which Witch_ magazine! Please, Potter, continue..."

"Er... thank you, Sir. Yes, Holly, the Muggleborn witch who you have on your files, is, in fact, my biological daughter. I don't want to go into details about my personal life here, as it is completely irrelevant to the case. However, it is true that me being who I am, I still have many enemies. We still not sure why they are after her, but we now know that they are. It was clear from what the wizard I duelled against said. But why would they want her? We still unsure"

The discussion then turned to what information they had managed to gather on both wizards from the gang who had died, and the circumstances around each of their deaths. The wizard who had died on the battle held in the air when they fleed the museum, was confirmed to be a member of the infamous Yakuza Wizards gang. He had attended Mahoutokoro wizarding school but had abandoned his studies when he was fifteen years old, rumours said that it was because he had turned white after using dark magic. He had been a fugitive from the Japanese Aurors from a long time now, and he was accused of many crimes, including theft followed by murder. He was only nineteen years old.

The wizard who had died inside Annabel's house was more of a mystery case, as he didn't seem to have zero criminal records under his name. His name was Francesco Giovanni, and he according to his files, he was a Muggleborn wizard who had started his magical education at the Beauxbatons Academy but for some unknown reason he had asked to be transferred to Ilvermorny when he was fifteen. He was only twenty years old. According to the magical post-mortem examination, Francesco had been forced by a magical binding to pierce a magical equivalent of the muggle suicide pill, which liberated a toxic gas, who did not only kill who was doing it but also whoever was nearby enough to inhale that toxic gas.

They then identified Marco Manolo Lorenzo, which Harry knew was the wizard he had duelled with at Annabel's house. Apparently, he was an ex-Auror, quite high up on the Macusa ranks, who was believed to have died on a mission more than ten years ago. This really left Harry shocked, as he certainly would have never was an Italian-American pureblood wizard who had married a British Muggle-born witch during the first wizarding war. He had fought on their side of the war during the first wizarding war when Harry was still a baby. However, at the second war, he was already considered to be dead, and there were no registers of him fighting on either side.

When they showed in a projected screen some scenes of Annabel's memory being tortured by the mysterious red-haired witch, Harry felt his blood burn in anger. Her face was in the screen, and Gawain Robards asked if anyone had any clue on her true identity, as no register whatsoever seem to exist about her. Not by any Ministry of magic, not by any of the main magical schools. Nobody seemed to recognise her. This was followed by a discussion of whether they should or shouldn't put her face on the newspapers in order to see if someone would recognise that witch. They also started to discuss possible theories of how she could have escaped unnoticed from the museum. Some of the theories that came up in the meeting were that she was perhaps an animagi of a small animal that could have hidden inside the museum without calling much attention. This theory was quickly refuted by Hermione who said "_The mapping would have found her even if she was in animal form. The mapping would have allowed us to _notice_ a non-ministry witch on the scene!_"

The last thing they covered during the meeting was another projected clip that showed Holly's memory of the boy being murdered. They could clearly see that the shot had been aimed to Annabel, and not to Holly. Harry felt a horrible knot in his throat. Just to think that she could have been gone before he even had the chance to talk to her again made his stomach turn. Hermione seemed to be the only one who noticed how affected he had been by that scene. When the meeting was finally over it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. The three friends stayed a bit behind to catch up.

"So, who would like to get a Sunday roast at the Leaky Cauldron?" Ron asked hopefully "I'm starving"

"I think I will pass this one mate. I want to go back home and see Annabel and Holly. Watching these scenes was a little bit too much for me"

"Oh, I see. So you and the Muggle are..." Ron said trying to be meticulously about the overall situation.

"No. We are not. It is... _complicated_. Maybe Hermione can tell you all about it during your lunch date."

"I guess we are going to see you sometime later?" Hermione said her farewell to Harry.

"See you later guys. Have a nice one" Harry said before he walked towards the Auror's room to Apparate next to his place.

He was hungry, but after the images he saw, he didn't want to spend any minute far away from Annabel or Holly more than it was necessary.


	23. So it goes...

The next few days flew by, and soon January was gone and February arrived. Annabel did her best to avoid being left alone with Harry, which meant they had little to no room for an adult conversation to happen between them, as Holly was almost always around when they were together. This really frustrated Harry, and not only because he wanted to hit on the muggle, but he really wanted to ask her questions about what had happened in her life during those years they were apart. There was still so little he knew about the first few years of Holly's life, and he really wished they could sit down and talk. Annabel tried to be nice about it, but she couldn't help to brush him off every time they seemed to start to get comfortable around each other. One of those times, she left it to escape that she had to do this not because she held anything against him, but because she felt like she could not be trusted to control herself around him.

Harry understood exactly what she meant, as he could almost see the tension cloud lingering around every time they were together. But different from her, he was more than willing to let them succumb to their lust. He knew she was married, and what he wanted was not socially acceptable. But he couldn't care less for these norms at the moment. They had waited for that for years. It felt like an entire life. He did not want to wait any longer. Besides, he thought that maybe, if she succumbed to her feelings again she might be more willing to request a divorce from Geoffrey.

It did only take two days for the The Daily Prophet release a special edition newspaper with Holly face stamped on its first page, along with many theories about why some dark wizards were on her tail and also why her existence had been kept secret for so long. Annabel was shocked beyond measure to see the amount of the publicity that this had brought to her and their daughter. She obviously knew that Harry was famous in the magical world, but she never really knew the extent of his fame before. The sort of coverage they were getting was the equivalent what muggles would give to the Royal family. She was surprised to see some paparazzi-style pictures that had been taken inside the Ministry's cafeteria when she and Holly went to give their witness testimony. She was gobsmacked when she read a complete dossier about her own persona, which had details about her entire life - from her dance career to the address of her catering company. To say that Harry was furious was an understatement. It was up to Ron, Hermione and Neville to hold him back from going to the Prophet office and explode everything off.

"There are other ways to do this, Harry. _Legal ways_, that won't involve us having to arrest you, mate." Neville said after having got hold of his friend's wand.

"I would have other ways if Annabel would stop to be so stubborn and signed the papers I gave her..."

It was after hearing that discussion without them noticing, that a begrudging Annabel decided to finally sign the papers that would give Harry a share of her parental power over Holly.

"Please, don't make me regret doing this, ok? Just go there and do what you must... I don't agree with what they did as well" Annabel said while she gave his parchments back to him.

"Thank you, Bel... this means... a lot for me."

"Why did the press care so much about us, anyway? I know you defeated that Dark Wizard years ago and all, but... it was ages ago, right? Why are they making all this fuss about it?" Annabel asked.

"Y_ou don't know!?_" Ron asked in complete shock "Harry is like a legend! He survived the killing curse when he was only a baby and then he survived it again at the Battle of Hogwarts."

"But why is this so impressive? I'm sure that other people must have survived some nasty curses before..." Annabel said thinking about the Cruciatus that herself had endured.

Ron was about to answer her, but Harry cut his best friend off with a hand sign and answered her instead.

"I have no idea why they make that fuss, and really I wish they would stop because it really annoys me," Harry said ending that conversation.

"Anna," Hermione who was standing next to Harry called, "I brought your laptop for you to use... I was working on it for the last two days with Marietta. We are trying to make your muggle appliances to work under magic. I would love if you could have a go using it today and let me know if it needs any adjusting..."

"Thank you so much for this, Hermione," Annabel said giving her a wide smile while she opened her laptop and started to turn it on, "I was really missing it! Do you have wifi, Harry?"

"_Wifi_? What is it?" Harry asked frowning his eyebrow, as he had never heard of that word before.

"Wifi Harry! It is what muggles use to connect to the internet! _Honestly_, Harry, you did grown up with Muggles, _you should know these things!_" Hermione said on her usual disapproving tone.

"I never really used internet. I know Duddley did... I think there was a thing called modem...? And nobody was allowed to use the telephone while he was connecting...?" Harry said unsure.

"Harry, you are making me feel _very_ old now," Annabel said while she typed her password on her computer.

"And talking about telephone Annabel, can you please give me your mobile phone? I would like to see if we can modify it as well..."

"Sure..." She said giving it to the witch. "It seems that the laptop is connecting to the internet completely fine, but I'm not connected through any wifi... how is this even possible?"

"It is one of the modifications we made. It took me and Marietta one whole day trying to figure it out how to do this, but we managed to create some spells using advanced Arithmancy that should allow it to connect to the muggle internet. We have also made some alterations, such as... you no longer need to charge it. Your battery is always one hundred per cent now."

"Wow! I really have a magical laptop now, don't I?"

"Indeed. One of a kind. Probably the first magical laptop ever created. So please, use it today and let us know if everything is working well with it. If it is, we will do the same procedure on Geoffrey's computer tomorrow."

"I'm sure I will. Look, I have one hundred and fourteen unread e-mails. This is certain to keep me busy for a while." Annabel said quickly going through her Outlook.

"What are e-mails?" Ron asked his fiancee.

"They are like letters the muggles send from one computer to another computer."

"That sounds wicked!" Ron said in admiration, which made him look very similar to his Father.

* * *

Annabel, Harry and Holly were having lunch together. It had been a week since he had first seen them at the museum. One week since he had met Holly for the first time. Almost a week since he had learned that he was her father. Harry had cooked lunch for them while Annabel was making calls and sending e-mails.

"Harry, you really can cook! This steak is absolutely gorgeous!" Annabel looked surprised "Ginny was a lucky girl to have you around. Geoffrey can't cook not even if his life depended on it!"

"Something good had to come out from my time with the Dursleys, right?" He answered her with a smile.

"At least you learned something there. Poor Duddley didn't know how to fry an egg when he left your Aunt's house. But he learned... and became pretty decent, actually."

"I'm really getting curious to meet this _new_ Duddley you talk so much about. Once this case is over I definitely need to find him to catch up..."

"Mummy, where is Dad?" Holly blurted out the question making both adults stop eating their dinner to look at her.

"Your Dad is in another safe house, just like this," Harry answered her trying to ignore the pang in his chest when he heard her asking that question.

"Why is he not here?" Holly asked once more. But none of the adults seemed able to give her an explanation. "Mummy, I want my Dad. I miss him."

"Holly, my darling, your Dad can't be here with us at the moment, but I promise that we will all be together soon. Right, Harry?"

"Yes... not long now, little one. We are going to be moving you all back to your house very soon." Harry said giving her a reassuring smile, but the girl remained worried.

"My Dad is not well. He needs help. We need to fix him."

"What do you mean by we need to fix him, Holly?" Annabel asked frowning her eyebrows.

"Dad is with a bad witch Mummy. She made his head go foggy."

"What do you mean by she is with a bad witch, Holly? He is with Alicia... she is an excellent Auror, like me." Harry frowned his eyebrow.

"No, she is not!" She said stubbornly.

"Now Holly, you are being unreasonable. You don't even know Alicia. How can you say that she is a bad witch?" Harry asked trying to reasoning with her.

"I just know it!"

"This is not a reasonable explanation, young lady. You can't say that people are bad without reason..." Annabel said reproving her actions.

"I've finished. Can I go to my room to play? Please?"

"Holly, you almost didn't touch your food!" Annabel said frustrated.

"Let her go, Bel, I will make something else if she is hungry later..."

"Fine! You can go. Just because you have a very good partner in crime," Annabel said trying to suppress her own smile when she saw Harry winking at Holly's direction.

Harry waited until the girl was completely gone to raise a subject that he was trying to talk with her for ages.

"Bel... when are we going to tell her...?"

"Tell her what?"

"That I am her father?"

"Shhh, Harry! She might hear you!" Annabel looked in a panic to the staircase as if she expected Holly to come down at any moment now.

"No, she won't. The walls are charmed so we can have private conversations here. If she is not in the room, she won't hear a thing. We could listen to some very loud music and she wouldn't notice it."

"I'm never too careful around Holly. Having a magical child made me never doubt the things that she can do..."

"I'm pretty sure that she won't be able to undo this charm. Anyway, we need to tell her, Bel. You saw the papers... everyone in the wizarding community already knows that she is my daughter. Everyone except her. We can't leave her blind, waiting for someone else to tell her..."

"You are right... we need to tell her. I'm just not sure how to do it. Maybe we should talk to Geoffrey first, you know? To ensure that we are all on the same page when it comes to this. Maybe if she sees that the three of us are getting along..."

"The three of us will never get along, Bel..."

"I know, but... can we at least try? Please?" Annabel begged, "For Holly..."

Harry gave her a long sigh.

"All right, we will do it your way. We will go to Alicia's house to see Geoffrey tomorrow, ok? Maybe it is best for us to decide a strategic approach to talk to Holly before we move back to your house. This way we can all be... as you said, on the same page."

Annabel smiled.

"Thank you, Harry."

* * *

Later that night, Annabel was at the breakfast bar trying to finish off three event quotations while Harry was playing Exploding Snaps with Holly. She was observing them by the corner of her eye, every time she had a little break to had a sip of her wine glass. Besides both Harry's and Holly's faces be covered with gunpowder, they both seemed to be having loads of fun together. However, Annabel noticed that Holly was starting to get tired. Her little girl was fighting to stay awake and carry on playing with Harry. She then stood up and did what any sensible mother would do on that situation.

"Come on Hollypops, the playing time is over. It's time for you to go to bed now."

"But I am not tired!" The girl said in the middle of a yawn.

"Yes, you are," Annabel smiled. "Come on, let's clean your face, brush your teeth and chose a storybook for us to read together..."

"But I want Harry to do it!" Holly whimpered.

Both adults exchanged a glace after hearing these words.

"What? You always ask for Mummy to do it, even when I am not home! And now you want Harry to do it now?" Annabel asked her daughter with a smirk.

Holly nodded her head in a non-verbal answer.

"I guess that I will be the lucky one who will have the honour, to take this little witch to bed tonight!" Harry said with a victorious grin.

"Have fun," Annabel raised her wine glass, giving Harry a small toast after she sat down again to finish writing her business quotations.

When Harry came back to the living room, he found Annabel seating on the floor where he and Holly had been playing. She was examining the Exploding Snap cards. She didn't dare to touch them as she feared they might end up exploding if she did that. She still held her wine glass, which was now half-full. Harry approached her so silently, that she only noticed when he was already seating next to her.

"Harry! You scared me!" She said after almost dropping her wine on the floor.

"Sorry, it was not my intention..."

"So... it seems like you have our daughter under your thumbs now. Which charm did you use on her, wizard?" Annabel asked him with a playful smile.

"Well, I don't know. I wish I knew, so I could try to use something similar on her mother..."

"Stop trying to seduce me, Potter!" She said starting to stand up, but Harry gestured for her to stay on the floor, and she complied.

"Do you want to play a match of Exploding Snap with me?" He said pointing his wand at the cards, making them self-shuffling.

"I'm not inclined to have gunpowder all over my face, thank you very much."

"How about chess? Wizarding chess is pretty much the same as muggle chess, the only difference is that the pieces are sort of alive"

"Really?" She asked excited "I would love to see that!"

Harry summoned his chess set with an Accio spell, and he asked to the pieces to set themselves on their correct positions. He gave the white pieces to Annabel and remained with the black ones.

"If I win, can you please stop trying to seduce me? It is getting really hard to resist, did you know that?" She said adjusting her hair behind her ear.

"I can promise that I will try... but I'm not sure if I will manage," He said taking her wine glass from her hand and drinking the rest of its content. "But if I win, I want to see you doing a pole dancing for me."

Annabel opened her eyes wide surprised by his daring move.

"I can try to do that... but I can't see how I can do this without a dancing pole"

Harry just waved his wand, a dance pole magically appeared on his living room. Annabel looked from him to the pole amazed.

"Now that we crossed this bridge... you can start your move whenever you ready. White's go first, as you probably know." Harry magically re-filled he wine glass that was still on his hands and gave her a wink.

"Right..." She grabbed her F white pawn, aiming to put it at level four when the piece started to shout at her.

"_Put me down right now, Ma'am! You don't need to grab me,_" the piece told her insulted.

"I'm so sorry!" She said to the piece, quickly placing it back on the board. "_Harry_,_ you didn't tell me they would speak!_"

"Yes, they do that. They will try to give you some advice... which could be both a blessing or a curse in disguise. _Pawn E6_." Harry said, curious to see what would be her next move.

"Pawn... G4?" Annabel said unsurely. All the white pieces sounded completely revolted by her choice and were calling her all sorts of names.

"_Shut up you lot_!" Harry said to the pieces, who did, in fact, went quiet after that. "Are you actively trying to lose, Bel?" Harry smirked at her.

"_No_," she shrugged her shoulders. "this is the first chess game I'm playing on my life. I have some idea of how I should move the pieces, though..."

"In that case..." Harry gave her a naughty look "I'm not even feeling guilty. Queen H4. Check."

"_What_? Already check? But I thought that chess games were supposed to be long and boring..." Annabel asked surprised examining the board game trying to understand how it had gone wrong so quickly for her pieces.

"Yes, it is already checked. And will be checkmate, because there is nothing you can do to avoid it. The game would probably have lasted longer if you haven't opened yourself for me so much..."

"In that case..." She said removing her socks before she stood up "I better do some dancing moves. Can you magically make some music as well?"

"No, but... I have a radio." He said pointing his wand to the radio, making it turn on the famous magical station, which was playing a song about a love potion cauldron, which Annabel had never heard before.

"Can your radio play normal..._ muggle_ songs? Believe me, it will be much better if I'm familiar with the song I'm dancing," She said as she removed her long skirt, leaving her wearing nothing but her female boxer underwear. Harry's eyes went wide open with that sight.

"Yes... sure... which station would you like to hear...?" He asked trying to force himself to look at her eyes, not at her legs.

"Any station that is playing something that I can work with," She said removing her cardigan and throwing it on Harry's face. "Maybe... can we try Capital FM?"

"Sure..." He pointed his wand to the radio once again, without taking his eyes away from the almost completely undressed woman in front of him.

Annabel immediately recognised the song that was just starting to play. Yes, she felt like she certainly could work with that catchy pop song, that seemed to be playing on the radio all the time. And then she started her improvised private show to Harry - her only audience. She started off my circling the bar, and leaning and rubbing her body against it. She did it everything without taking her eyes off him. She slowly escalated her movements, and started to swing on the pole, and then to climb it. Harry could feel his heart beating fast, and he knew that the bulge on his trousers wouldn't get any bigger, as he was fully hard-on only by seeing her dance. And he did not even try to hide it. She noticed, and gave him a sly smile, looking from his pants to his eyes. She knew that she was messing with his head, and she was enjoying being responsible for that.

She would go up and then down, turn herself upside down, all in the rhythm of the music that was on the radio. She would go down to the floor, and do the split, only to stand back up on the pole one more time. But what made it even more inebriating, was that sly look on her eyes, the way she bit her lips looking as if she was inviting him. Harry was finding very hard to control himself. He walked very near the pole, and Annabel started to play with his hair teasing him. She then turned upside down opening her legs very widely very next to where his head was. He could see her wetness and smell her sex, and it drove him completely mad. He wanted to taste her and make her squirm of pleasure while she called his name.

Harry felt like he couldn't restrain himself any longer. He grabbed her from the pole, carry her on his arms bridal style, and kissed her mouth eagerly. She responded with the same intensity and then she stopped, only to give him a love bite on his neck, at the same time she ran one of her hands from under his trousers and started to touch him down there.

"You are such a naughty girl, aren't you?" He said looking at Annabel finally smiling on his arms.

"You are just _so_ irresistible... I was fighting a losing battle,"

"I know exactly what a woman like you deserves," Harry said before he moved her into a fireman's grabbing position and slapped her bun just after he did that.

She did nothing but moaned as he carried her like a hag doll up the stairs. A long pleasant sleepless night was on their way. Neither of them were inexperienced virgins anymore, and Harry knew a lot of different ways to give her pleasure, not only with his body but also by using his magic. And he couldn't wait to show it off to her. He was determined to give her the best lay of her life.


	24. South Bank Walk

Annabel woke up just after the sun had risen. Harry remained fast asleep, his body pressing against hers in a possessive way. She remembered every single detail of last night events - the chess game, her dancing, Harry kissing her, he had taken her to his bedroom, they both claiming each other's bodies once, twice, three, four, five times... Harry making her feel pleasure in ways that she didn't even know that was possible. He made her climax... multiple times; he made her squirt... twice. She had never done that before. In fact, she barely managed to reach an orgasm whenever she had sex with Geoffrey. Last night with Harry, she had lost the count of how many she had.

She felt a wave of mixed feelings to engulf her. She had truly enjoyed last night, but at the same time, another part of her also regretted everything she had done. She felt dirty and wrong. She was officially an _adulteress_ and she was ashamed beyond measure, and she felt extremely guilty. How would she be able to look Geoffrey in the eyes after what she had done?

She freed herself from Harry's embrace, feeling a pang in her heart, as she believed that this was likely to be the last time they had been this close. It would have to be the last time. She couldn't allow this to happen. Never again. She would have to police herself next to Harry twice as harder from now on.

One thing that surprised her, was to find all the clothes she had removed and left downstairs, perfectly folded and clean, in the armchair next to the bed. She grabbed them and went to the ensuite bathroom to get ready for the day. When left the room and went downstairs, she also found that the chess set and the card game were no longer spread around the floor. The wine glass they had shared had been put away. The only reminder of their lustful night was the pole, which was still standing the same way it was when Harry made it. It felt like a very discrete cleaner had come around while they were sleeping and tidy everything away.

She went to the kitchen area and was about to start making some breakfast when someone came groping her from behind placing one hand under her skirt and the other on her waist. She felt Harry's smell and her heart started beating fast.

"Who told you were allowed to leave me in bed all by myself, hmm?" He whispered in her ear and her legs were all wobbly. His finger had already found their way to her clit.

"Harry, _please_..." Annabel said trying to escape from his embrace, but he held her tighter, making it impossible for her to free herself. "Please, stop. I really mean it..."

After hearing this, he immediately stepped back, and she turned around to face him. He was wearing nothing but some old sweatpants, and she could see his perfectly defined chest along with the love bites and scratches that she had gifted him during last night. The worse bites, being the ones on his neck. She knew that it would probably be tricky to cover those up.

"Is there anything wrong?" Harry asked taking her out of her trance.

"Er... no, hmm, I mean, yes!" She mumbled while she tried to focus. Everything she wanted was to be taken to his bedroom once more and have him fucking her brains out, but she knew that was out of the question. "Harry, about last night..."

"It was fabulous? Sublime?"

"Yeah, it was great, I will give you that... but..."

"But...?"

"We can't let this happen again." She said seriously.

"Bel..." He started to move a hand to bring them together, but she brushed him off once again.

"Harry... you know that I'm married..."

"Then divorce him. _Marry me_."

Annabel gasped. Harry grabbed both of her hands and raised them near his chest before he started speaking again.

"Bel, I love you. Throughout all these years I have loved you. And I know you feel the same." His hands reached hers and he held them gently. This time, she did not brush him off "You can carry on ignoring what you feel, and stay married with Geoffrey for the rest of your life if you want... but this feeling is not going to magically go away. You know that. We both been there. You tried it for years... the same way I did. How well did that go?"

Silent tears start falling through her eyes.

"How... how can I... how can leave him? How can I leave him after everything he did... he was... you have no idea, Harry..."

"_Bel_... how can you stay with him, when you know deep inside that your heart is here with me" He placed her hands on his chest, in front of his heart. "How can you carry on doing this to him? How can you carry on doing this to me? _To us_?"

She looked down to the floor while her tears carried on falling down her face. Annabel knew that he was right. And the realisation of those words hit her like a loud sting that made she lost her balance. Staying with Geoffrey just because he had been there to hold her together during her darkest moments, was not fair not even to Geoffrey himself. But she knew that if she asked the divorce he would beg for her to stay, playing mind games and guilt trips, and she was not sure if she was strong enough to handle all that without deciding to back off from the divorce. Carrying on doing that was also not fair to Harry and herself... only that their happiness wasn't her biggest priority anymore.

"And... how about Holly, Harry? How does she stay in the middle of all this?"

"She will be fine. She enjoys my company, that much is clear. And even though I can't stand Geoffrey, she can still see him whenever she wants to..."

It was at that exact moment that little Holly entered the room, holding her Dinosaur teddy in one hand, and a drawing on the other.

"Hello Harry, Hello Mummy."

Annabel quickly tried to dry her tears discreetly. Harry turned to see Holly and bent down to say on her eye level.

"How is my favourite little girl? What have you got here?" He asked pointing to Holly's drawing.

"I made this for you, Harry!"

"Thank you so much! It is beautiful!" He said admiring her drawing.

There were three humanoids like figures in the middle of the paper, one smaller and two bigger ones. There were two small circles with eyes, one had a beak and the other had whiskers. There were two other figures higher up on the sky.

"This is me, this is Mummy, and this is you, and this is Agnes, and this is Isis. And that is Lola up there, she is a star... and Kreacher is another star."

"Why is Kreacher a star?" Harry asked frowning his eyebrow

"Because he died like Lola"

"Kreacher is fairly old, but I think he still has some years ahead of him, don't you think? Who is Isis?" Harry asked.

"Oh, she is going to be my cat! The one you are going to give me." Holly said as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Let me see that," Annabel said also bending over to exam the drawing. "So, am I right to say that I'm this one wearing the white dress? Why am I so big? Why do I need to be the bigger one?"

"Because you are the most awesome!" Harry said smiling at her. "Can you see this, Bel? _Holly will be fine_," Harry gave Annabel a meaningful look. "You don't need to answer me right now, but can you promise that you are going to think about it?"

Annabel silently agreed with a nod. And Harry kissed her forehead tenderly.

"Thank you" He whispered "Now... who wants breakfast? I'm starving!"

* * *

"Hey mate, how you doing?" Ron said after entering his house straight from the floo connection.

Harry, who had been reading some classified Auror files, immediately stood up with his wand pointed at his best friend.

"When did we first met?" Harry asked him seriously.

"At... the Platform 9 3/4... you asked Mum to help you because you didn't know how to enter it," Ron answered without removing his own wand from his pocket. "Harry, is this really necessary? Your floo connection is only linked to my parents and to mine and Hermione's place..."

"I'm not taking any chances, Ron," Harry said putting his wand back on his wand-holster. "I will never be able to forgive myself if anything happens with them. It just takes someone from that gang to find a breach on your parent's or your house security, and then they would have access to my floo connection."

"Let's not even mention the fact that both these houses are very well warded, whoever broke in, would still need to know where to go. Very few people know the activation word to your fireplace."

"Still... I bet they could find it out somehow. Everything it takes is someone pulling a drop of Veritasserum in a drink of one of my friends." Harry said as he started to turn on the kettle. "That is why I ordered Kreacher to try to stay here in the living area every time I need to go upstairs. I thought about removing the floo network completely while they were here, but... the floo can be such a good emergency escape route as well... maybe I should ask you or Hermione to be the secret keeper of the activation word of my fireplace..."

"Harry, you are really paranoid. I can sense Mad-Eye highest level of paranoia right there."

"There is no such a thing as an unbreakable place, Ron. You should know that! We robbed Gringotts for Merlin's sake - a supposedly unbreakable stronghold. Sooner or later they are going to try to get them. It is my job to try to think the way they might be thinking."

"What have you been working on?" Ron said approaching the breakfast bar and looking at the papers Harry had been reading.

"I've been trying to read everything we have collected about that Marco Bonanno guy. He was an astonishing Macusa Auror, Ron. He was also a duelist champion at Ilvermorny, which I'm honestly, not surprised after duelling against him myself."

"That much was covered at Sunday's meeting..."

"His personal life, seemed to be a bit gloomy though."

"What do you mean by gloomy...?"

"His wife died when they were still on their twenties, leaving him the task to raise their only daughter. She was almost the same age as Holly when this happened."

"I'm not pitying him. He took my wand. He wants to kidnap your daughter from all we know..."

"Years later his younger sister got involved with some outlaws, and she ended up dead in a confrontation between their gang and some Macusa Aurors. His daughter was under his sister's care at that time, and she also died in the battle."

"Okay, maybe I will pity him just a little bit..."

"Marco died in a mission two months after that."

"Just that he didn't"

"Yeah... now we know he didn't." Harry confirmed by giving a tea mug to Ron and getting another one to himself. "And what has he being up to during all these years? We have no idea."

"Harry, is this... is this a love bite on your neck?" Ron raised his eyebrow after noticing Harry's dark purple bruise.

Harry nodded unable to restrain his smirk

"So, you and Anna?"

"Yeah... we banged"

"Merlin soggy pants!" Ron gasped "I'm calling Rita Skeeter, right now! Imagine what she would write if she dreamed that _Saint Potter_ here, is banging a married woman!" Ron said in a joking tone.

"Her Quick-Quotes Quill would likely to never survive the shock - it would explode of excitement. Especially after I inform her that I asked that particular married woman to divorce her husband to marry me instead."

"_You didn't_!" Ron's eyes were wide open in shock. But Harry's face told him everything. "Bloody hell, _you did!_"

"Yeah... it wasn't a traditional proposal by any means but... we are far away from being the regular couple anyway, so..."

"Ginny is going to be devasted when she hears that..."

"I'm sorry Ron, I did not..." Harry started to apologize, but Ron cut him off.

"Hermione told me about the talk you two had about Ginny and Annabel, and... I honestly don't think you wronged Ginny." Ron gave Harry a gentle tap on his shoulders" She is my baby sister, I want her happiness. You are my best mate, I also want to see you happy. If you weren't able to find your happy end together, I want you both to move on. And honestly, I know that it is not characteristic of you to do things like this lightly. Might be a bit rushed in my opinion, but... you are already proposing Anna, after what? Eight days living together...?"

"No mate. I've proposed to her after a lifetime, more likely. I should have done this ages ago. I should have gone after her and done this when the war was over; I shouldn't have let her get off my sight during the war in the first place!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Harry. She could never have joined us on that journey. She would have died..."

"But I could have asked someone else to look after her for me... the same way it was done with the Dursleys!"

"Stop playing this _I _should, I could game, _right now._ It won't take you anywhere. You can do something now, and I think you are trying. What was her answer, by the way?"

"She hasn't given me one yet..." Harry said looking at his chipped mug. "But she agreed to think about it, which honestly, is a huge progress from where we were before..."

"Do you think she is going to say yes?"

"I hope she does... and... if she does accept it, you should brace yourself, because you know that you are going to be my best man, right?"

"_Brilliant_" Ron answered with a goofy smile "Ginny is going to Bat-Bogey Hex me until I'm on my deathbed, Mum is probably going to disown me from the family, I'm officially going to be turned into George's guinea pig for the next decade and I will be lucky if Bill or Charlie decides to address me a word before we are on our fifties. But yeah, of course, I will be your best man! _What a question!_"

Ron then grabbed the tea mug from his friend's hand and poured its contents down the sink along with his own mug.

"I was enjoying that! What do you think you are doing?"

"Let's grab some firewhiskey, mate"

"What? _No way!_ We are on duty, Ron!"

"You just told me that you have asked a woman to marry you, and you expect me to carry on drinking tea here with you like two old folks? what kind of best man would I be if we don't celebrate that properly?"

"I'm not leaving Holly under the care of a drunken Auror..."

"Fine! Butterbeer it is, then!" Ron summoned two bottles and gave one to Harry. They cheered and started to drink it from the bottles.

"You know what? I'm going to have to make sure that I write a hell of a speech... not for you, but for Anna..."

"What? You are already planning how are you going to embarrass me in front of her?"

"Of course I'm not! I would never do such a thing. I'm wondering what is the best way to inform her..."

"To inform her...?"

"Yeah... how is the best way to inform someone that they accidentally got married to the _chosen one, to the saviour of the world, to the boy-who-lived and man-who-defeated..." _Ron said that in a mocking tone of voice_  
_

"_Prat_!" Harry said after he threw a kitchen cloth on his friend's face.

"Well, she doesn't know it, does she?"

"No, I don't think she does. And I like the fact that she doesn't know about it... it feels _refreshing_."

"I bet it does... so do me a favour, will you?"

"What?"

"Get rid of this love bite on your neck before you go to the Burrow to pick Holly up later this evening, ok? Mum is already convinced that Annabel is drugging you with a love potion..."

"_What?_ But she is a Muggle!"

"I know, right? Go figure..." Ron said shaking his head "Mum still adores you, by the way. It is only Annabel that she is holding something against. And saying holding something against, is putting it mildly..."

"Oh well, I will try not abuse from her hospitality..."

"So what are you going to be doing with Annabel from now until the time you arranged to visit Alicia? More banging?"

"I wish..." Harry sighed "No, I was thinking about taking her to a walk at the Muggle London... we both are feeling a bit claustrophobic here..."

"So, like a date?"

"Yeah... though this is definitely not the word I'm planning to use to describe it when I invite her to go out with me..."

"Only you two, Harry!" Ron said with a fake disapproving glare "You both must have lost the relationship memo that says that usually people first go to dates, then they have sex, then they get married and only then, they procreate."

"_Sod off, Ronald!_"

"Anyway, you can enjoy your non-date outing with Annabel without worry. Besides me, Hermione and Neville, the Burrow is going to be packed with Order members. Mum is doing a big lunch for Dad's Birthday today..."

"I completely forgot about Arthur's birthday! I guess that I probably shouldn't go, right?"

"Yeah, please don't go to his birthday lunch. My brothers are going to be there, and Ginny obviously will also be there, and yeah... it might be too soon for her to see you and Annabel together like that."

"Do you think it is ok if I send a birthday card to your father?"

"Well... Dad is not really pleased, especially considering the fact that Annabel is also married, but... he did seem to think that you did the right thing by breaking up with Ginny before things went out control. He said that you two had a story together and a daughter, and that he could sense this coming sooner or later."

"Yeah, I think I will be sending him a card then," He said thoughtfully, "I think that I'm also going to be disconnecting my fireplace from your parents this afternoon. Too many people around, too many opportunities for Veritaserum drops fall on drinks..."

"Here we go, Mad-Eye would be so proud..."

"They almost killed Annabel... three times. They almost got Holly... twice. They are going to try to get her again. I'm sure they will. You can call me paranoid as much as you want. I'm not taking any chance here."

Both men stopped their conversation when they noticed that Annabel and Holly were walking down the stairs. Annabel was holding Holly's hand and her also a tiny red-backpack.

"Good-morning Ron," Annabel greeted when she recognised Harry's best friend. "How are you? How is Hermione?"

"I'm doing good... Hermione is good as well, she is going to be meeting me at my parents. How about you, how are you doing?"

"Not bad... just feeling a little bit tired..."

"Having trouble to sleep?" Ron said, having a hard time keeping a straight face from her. Harry gave him a death glare and Annabel looked at them suspiciously.

"Where is Teddy? I want to play with him..." Holly whimpered removing the awkwardness from the room.

"He is going to meet you at the Burrow with his Granny" Harry answered to her "Ron is going to take you there"

"Right, Ron... I have packed three full changes of clothes for Holly, in case she gets dirty, her water bottle, and a book that she really likes..." Annabel said handing the backpack to the red-haired wizard. "are you sure we don't need to make a packed lunch for her, Harry?"

"Positive. If there is one thing that never lacks at the Burrow is good food."

"But and if she doesn't like anything they have...?"

"I'm sure my family will be able to feed and look after your daughter, Anna... relax" Ron exchanged a glance and a grin with Harry.

"In that case, I think this is everything..."

"Right... we better get going Holly... we don't want to keep Teddy waiting." Ron took a box from inside his pocket and put it on the floor next to Holly. "So Holly, we are going to use a Portkey. Hermione told me you have already played this game before - the game where we touch the box together in a count of three?"

Holly nodded and Ron opened the box to reveal the real Portkey inside it.

"Enjoy your... free moment, both of you" Ron gave Harry a mistify look when the said the last part.

It did not take more than a few moments until they both disappeared from Harry's kitchen, leaving the two adults once again alone.

"So... are we going to meet with Geoffrey now?" Annabel asked feeling a little bit uncomfortable. Having already made her decision, she knew that she was going to have two very delicate conversations with her husband that she was not really looking forward to having.

"Not right now, no. I arranged with Alicia, the Auror who is looking after him, to visit them at four o'clock. It's not even eleven yet..."

"That is a long time..."

"Yes, it is... and I just thought... that maybe we could use leaving this house for a bit... maybe doing the South bank walk or anything you fancy doing really..."

"What happened to '_you are not even allowed to go to work, because there are criminals out there trying to kill you_' situation? Are we no longer in danger?"

"Well, firstly it is our daughter that they are after... this was pretty much confirmed." Harry said seriously "Which doesn't mean that you are not in danger... but as long you are with me, I'm happy to let you out of the house for a couple of hours. It is a beautiful day outside..."

"In that case... let me just grab my coat and my handbag. I'll be back down in a second!"

* * *

Annabel and Harry left his flat under his invisibility cloak and he apparated them as soon as they were outside his apparition wards. They started their walk somewhere near Tower Bridge, and they slowly started to follow the river bank. Despite the cold and the chilly wind that always seemed to be much harsher near the river, they were both very glad to be out of Harry's flat. When they got near to the Borough Market, Annabel asked Harry if they could have a little walk around there.

Harry had never been to that place before. He had walked many times at the South Bank, but never really realising that big historical food market was there. They walked together around the stalls, tried on some food, and eventually, they ended up buying a couple of fresh fruits, vegetables and meat. Harry discreetly managed to shrink their groceries shopping and keep them hidden in one of his pockets.

"I don't have many memories of my parents together you know? But one thing I always remember is that we used to come here to this Market every Sunday morning to buy some fresh meat, fish, fruits and vegetables. My father would always go to that shopping stall over there and buy two flowers, and then he would give one to me and the other for my mother..." Annabel said nostalgically.

"This is a lovely family tradition..." Harry said having a sudden idea "Come on, let's go there..."

Harry asked for Annabel to choose a flower, and she ended up going for two pink wild lilies. Harry kept one of the flowers away with the rest of their groceries - to give to Holly later - and Annabel carried the other flower on her hand. They made their way back to the river bank pathway and carried on walking towards the west.

"They used to be such a romantic couple, you know? Everyone was so surprised when they divorced." She said in the middle of a sigh. "But Dad has always struggled to be in a monogamous relationship... he was always seeing call girls or random strangers... until the day he had a real affair and my mother decided that she had enough of it and ended everything for good."

"I know it wasn't easy for you to see that happening, right?"

"Yes, it certainly wasn't easy. I always thought that I was like him you know? I always thought that I was going to be exactly like that when it came to relationships... so I thought that was no point for me to have a serious relationship, as I believed that I was doomed to mess things up, eventually... and I... didn't want to hurt you..."

"So that is why you did not want to commit to a relationship with me when we were young..." Harry felt like he finally had put the last piece of a puzzle together.

"Yes, but I couldn't connect the dots at that time... only when I did therapy a few years ago that these things started to make sense."

"You did therapy?" Harry said surprised.

"I had too... I wasn't functioning very well... if Geoffrey had not been there to mend my broken pieces and look after Holly... I don't think I would be here with you today..." Annabel said holding her flower a bit harder.

They carried on walking, and Annabel stopped a couple of times, where she offered to take some pictures for the tourists that were travelling alone or were struggling to get everybody from their party in the pictures. This way they could have a picture with all of the family members together.

"I picked this habit with Geoffrey... it is sad when you can't get a picture with everyone together in a holiday... and I'm sure that some of these people must have saved up their money for years and years to be able to come here..."

"So Geoffrey actually does have a good side, then? I thought you were being completely delusional..."

"Of course he does, Harry. Everyone has a good side! I can make you a list of all his good deeds if you want..."

"Er... no thanks. I think that I will pass that..."

They carried on walking in silence at the river bank. The day was sunny, but the winter chilly wind was also blowing hard on their faces. Annabel was trying to gather the courage to ask him a question that she was dying to ask since that morning.

"Harry... how was it like breaking up with Ginny?"

Harry immediately stopped walking once he heard her blunt out that question. She also stopped following his lead, and they looked at each other in the eyes. Harry thought that her red woollen hat made she look very cute.

"It was hard to start saying what I knew I had to say. Even harder to carry on when I saw how sad and distressed I was making she feel... but I had to do it. Because I knew that it was the right thing to do..."

Annabel nodded in acknowledgement, and they started walking again. Harry started to consider if there was anything else that it was worth adding.

"Ginny also tried to convince me not to do it, and she did have some pretty good arguments on her side..." Harry said turning his head to look at her

"Such as...?"

"Such as the fact that it was way too many new things for me to process right now. That I should take some time off the relationship and think about everything instead of being precipitated..."

"It is true... God knows how my life has been turned upside down the last couple of days. It must be even a bigger change for you... I mean, considering Holly and everything else..."

"Oh yes, definitely! Last week have been one of the most chaotic weeks of my life, and believe when I tell you - that this is _quite an achievement!_" Harry said giving her a little smile. "But honestly, I knew that time wasn't the answer to sort out my relationship with Ginny. If time was going to solve anything here, I would no longer be in love with you."

Annabel's fingers went to find Harry's hand and she held it caressing it gently. His hands were warm, while hers were freezing cold. He returned the favour by caressing her hands back as they carried on walking until Annabel found a relatively quieter spot by the river and guided him there. They both started to feel a chill of excitement building up, Annabel because she knew what she was about to do, and Harry because he could sense that something important was about to happen. She turned her body so she was facing him.

"Harry..." Annabel took a deep breath "I... I have been thinking about what you said this morning. And... you are right. There is no point in trying to deny it. I love you, I have always loved you, and I know that I will always love you."

Harry's face immediately brightened up and gave her one of his best iceberg melting smiles she had ever seen. He pulled her closer, touching their foreheads.

"Say that again..." Harry asked, that gorgeous smile still adorning his lips.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!" She said smiling back. "And nothing is going to make me happier than becoming the next Mrs Potter."

Harry had never felt happier in his entire life. He was certain that at that moment he would be able to make a wandless Patronus if he tried. He lifted Annabel in the air and started to spin her around. They kissed as if there would be no tomorrow. Their happiness was contagious. Some tourists that were passing by started clapping and cheering, while some other people started to take pictures of them together. But Harry couldn't care less if someone from the Daily Prophet were in that crowd. Annabel was going to divorce Geoffrey. She was going to be his wife, the next Mrs Potter.

"I can't believe that this is finally happening," He said after he put her down on the floor.

"Well, you better start believing it... but there is a catch..."

"A catch?" Harry asked frowning his eyebrows.

"Yes, I accept to marry you, but there are some conditions..."

"Conditions...?"

"Yes, the first one is no more lies. No more secrets. I want you to try being honest with me."

"Sounds fair... and now that we no longer have the Statute of Secrecy between us, I can certainly comply to that..."

"My second condition is we need to work on our communication. I know that I am at fault on this one, but I know that I'm not the only one. I just don't think I can handle another one of our big misunderstandings."

"I don't think I could agree more with this one, Bel. I don't think that neither of us _will survive_ another one of those..."

"And last, but most important one, is that I want it to be _forever_." She said seriously. "I don't want to go adding your surname to my name If there is any possibility that this is not going to be forever..."

"_Don't be silly_." Harry said taking her head by her chin and bringing her closer "It will be forever. I want to grow old with you... I want us to make Christmas dinner together for our Grandchildren. I want you to be the first person I see every day when I wake up, and the last I see when I go to sleep until the end of my life..."

And they kissed once again, a much more restrained kiss, but not any less passionate.

"What you would like to do now, Bel?" Harry asked in an almost whisper.

She gave him one of her unique sly looks and whispered something on his ear. He gave her a large grin, as he would be more than happy to give in and do what she had requested.


	25. Electra's complex

One of the consequences of having a family as big as the Weasleys was that any minor gathering always ended up becoming a major event, and it was no different at Arthur's birthday lunch. Besides family, they also had invited a couple old friends - the majority had worked for the Order of Phoenix or had been a member of the Dumbledore's Army. So far, Holly had been the center of attention from the party, as everybody seemed curious to have a better look at Harry's little girl. Ron and Hermione stayed with her all the time, trying to ensure both her safety and also that nobody commented about the girl's true parentage within her hearing range, as they knew that Holly did not know about it yet.

There was, of course, a certain level of awkwardness caused by the fact that Holly was the daughter of Ginny's ex-boyfriend. Indeed, Bill was looking at the little girl with a disapproving look on his face when she started to play with his daughter Victoria. It was only when Ginny approached her elder brother and told him, "_Don't be such a dick, Bill, she is only a child! I wasn't even dating Harry when she was born," _that he finally stopped throwing glares at the little Miss Potter.

They had already cut the birthday cake and many guests had already left when Harry's owl Agnes arrived and dropped a card and a present for Arthur and a short message for Ron saying nothing but '_She said yes!_'. Ron gave a silly smile and did a little cheer. Hermione who was just next to him raised her eyebrows in an inquisitive way.

"_She said yes!_" Ron told his fiance, who immediately understood what he meant, as Ron had already informed her about the talk he had with Harry that morning. Hermione gasped and clapped her hands in excitement.

"What is that little cheater saying?" George approached them casually.

"Oh George, lay off. Harry did break up with Ginny before he started wooing Annabel again," Ron said defending his best mate.

"Is that so? Well, our little sister told us about wine glasses on the kitchen counter... and Harry admitting that they were catching up on old times..."

"Breaking up with Ginny was the decent thing for him to do, regardless..." Hermione said defending her best friend.

"Well, I don't care, if he did the right thing. He broke our little sister's heart, so he must pay..." George said with a hint of mist in his eyes.

"Come on, sooner or later Gin will get over him..." Ron said trying to reason with his older brother.

"And until that day comes, I will be here to avenge her," George said determined "And you should be helping me! Not being on that Muggle woman team..."

"I'm not on Anna's or Ginny's team, George! Harry is my best friend, and I want to see him happy. Of course, I would rather be seeing him with Ginny, but if it is the Muggle that makes his heart beat fast..."

"Is that true, then? Is Harry dating that Annebel woman? Holly's mother?" Luna approached the three of them. "Well, then they _must_ be having sex _quite a lot_..."

Ron cracked laughing after hearing her comment, and George and Hermione looked at her oddly.

"I know that Harry is a Leo, and I saw from the article at the Daily Prophet that Holly's mother is a Scorpio. It is quite an explosive match, isn't? Fire and water together..." Luna said as she decided to explain her line of thought. "Anyway, I'm off now. Tell Harry to bring his Muggle around to my birthday drinks if he can still make it..."

But Hermione had long ago stopped paying attention to what she was saying.

"Ron, where are Holly and Teddy? _Where have they gone?_" Hermione looked at the spot where Holly and Teddy were playing seconds ago. However, none of the kids were there anymore.

"I'm not sure... let's look around. They can't have gone very far, can they?" Ron said calmly, but Hermione didn't seem convinced.

"Come on, we need to find her," Hermione said in a panicked voice "Can you two help us out, _please?_" She begged George and Luna who were still near them. Both adults agreed, and in less than a minute, every single adult in the Burrow was trying to find where both children had gone.

* * *

Following her request, Harry had brought Annabel back straight to his flat. He set up his new camping tent in his living room and made some sweet love with her inside it. Again. Their bodies were in perfect synchronisation. It felt perfect. It felt right. _So right_. They were having a bath together in a wooden bath that Harry's new tent possessed, and they were resting and washing each other's body after their last lovemaking session. Harry was sitting behind Annabel, hugging her body with both his legs and his arms. She was caressing both of his hands with her own until her thumb went over a very peculiar scar on the back of his hand that said '_I must not tell lies._' She remembered the episode where he roughly told her about that particular scar without giving her too many details on the circumstances surrounding it.

"You told me once that an evil woman gave you this scar, but... you never really told me exactly how that happened..."

"Do you really want to talk about _this_ now?" Harry sighed frustrated. Dolores Umbridge was the last person he wanted to think about at any moment, but especially when he was having such a lovely time.

"I would like to, if you don't mind," she answered him sincerely. "I realised that there are so many things about you that I'm totally unaware about... like the fact you never really played football, but Quadditich instead..."

"_Quidditch,_" Harry corrected her automatically.

"Yes, so... how did that evil woman give you this weird looking scar...?"

Harry took a deep breath in resignation before he started answering her question.

"During my fifth year at Hogwarts the Ministry of Magic forced that awful woman to teach at Hogwarts, her name was Dolores Umbridge. It is hard to explain exactly why she did that, but the truth is that I had witnessed Voldemort's resurrection at the end of the previous academic year, but I didn't have any proof, and the people in power at the Ministry at that time did not want to believe me. The Minister was afraid of the political consequences that a generalised panic could provoke on his electorate."

"You talked about Voldemort's resurrection on an interview at that magazine... the Quibbler?" Annabel inquired.

"Yes... that was the first time I managed to tell in full what really happened that night in that graveyard to someone other than Dumbledore and Sirius. My friends knew about it, obviously, but not in great detail... but people needed to know that he was back, and they had agreed to publish my version of the story..."

"And how does this link with your teacher Dolores...?"

"Well, she was the Minister's little stinky pet at that time, and she did not like to hear me telling people that Voldemort had returned..."

"So she gave you this scar on your hand...?"

"She gave me a detention after I remind her during one of our Defense Against the Dark Arts classes that she should actually put some effort into teaching us how to defend ourselves because Voldemort was back..."

"_That is so unbelievably unfair!_" Annabel said outraged.

"Sadist as she was, Umbridge made me write lines with a black quill. The black quill uses your own blood to write the sentences... and carve it from the back of your hand. If it is used in excess... it can leave a permanent scar..."

Annabel gasped in horror.

"I can't believe that is a thing! I can't believe that nobody did anything about it! How about your other teachers? The headmaster...? Your friends...? Why did no one report this?"

"I told my friends to leave it. They wanted me to report it, but I did not want to give her the satisfaction..."

"Oh, Harry...!" Annabel brought his hands to her lips and gave him a soft kiss where the scar was still very visible. "You really like to put a brave face on, don't you? I remember when Dudley used to be mean to you... you did exactly the same thing."

"From my previous experiences telling things to the adults never really helped..."

"What about this other scar on your chest?" She asked turning around and tracking her fingers on the top of the burned mark he had acquired on his chest while he was trying to destroy the Slytherin locket. "You didn't use to have this one before the war. How did you acquire it?"

Harry took a deep breath, feeling his mood darken even more.

"_Bel_... shall we keep the story behind this one for another day? I know that I agreed to be honest and stop keeping secrets from you. I _swear_ that I'm not running away from telling you about this, _but_... you need to understand that talking about some of these things is very emotionally draining for me... and not very easy..." he said hugging her harder. "Besides, it is almost time for us to go to Alicia's, and the story behind that particular one will definitely take some time to explain..."

"You are really full of scars, aren't you, Harry Potter? Physical and mental scars..."

"I guess you can say that..."

"I'm so scared about talking to Geoffrey today... and so worried for him as well... it is not like he has a big family like Ginny to hold his back when I inform him about my decision..."

"He is a grown-up man, Bel. He will have to deal with it... the same way I did."

"You had Ron, Hermione, Ginny... he really doesn't have anyone, Harry..."

"The witch who is looking after him, Alicia... she is very nice and sweet. I will ask her to be extra nice to Geoffrey while he is there with her. What do you think?"

"Well, this can't hurt, right?" Annabel said before she turned her body to face Harry. She hugged his waist with her long legs and placed her arms around his neck. "I'm thinking about letting my hair grow back to the way it used to be when we were teenagers... what do you think?"

"I think you look lovely... long hair, short hair... bold..." Harry said while he played with her hair. "But yeah... I would like to see you with long hair again..."

"That is decided, then. I won't cut it until it reaches below my shoulders..."

"Would you like some help? Growing hair is actually really easy... it was one of the accidental magic I used to do all the time when I was a kid. It will only take two seconds," Harry offered while he got hold of his wand.

"Sure, _why not_? Few seconds does sound much better than waiting for a few years..."

"Right..." Harry touched her hair with the tip of his wand and whispered some Latin words that were completely unknown to her, and she felt her hair rapidly grown in at an absurd speed until it reached halfway down her back. It was even bigger than what she remembered. Her new long hair got wet in their bath water.

"Thank you, Harry! This is amazing! I really like to have a wizard around... it is very handy..."

"Your hair looks exactly how it used to look six years ago. I can't believe that was such a long time ago."

"Me neither..."

"Look at the time, Bel! Come on, we need to move, otherwise, we are going to be late" Harry said rushing them both out of the bath. "Come here, let me dry you with magic..."

With the help of his magic, Harry managed to get them both ready to go out in less than five minutes. Well, if somebody asked her, Annabel would not consider herself to be ready by any means, as this left her zero time to put her makeup on. And she knew that she would not have that precious time in the passenger seat of a car to fix something up.

"We don't really have time for this, Bell..."

"Can't you just help me out and do it with your magic then?"

"I don't know any girl's cosmetic spells..."

"Well, if you expect me to get ready in zero time then you should learn a couple!" she said annoyed, but she grabbed her handbag and allowed him to guide her outside his house under his invisibility cloak nonetheless.

When Harry apparated them this time, she knew that they couldn't be in London anymore. There was some thick snow on the floor, and the architecture of the little village, where they were now, was not the kind you would find anywhere near central London.

"This is _Hogsmeade_... the only all-wizarding village in Britain. Alicia lives here..." Harry said before he carefully removed his cloak and offered his arm for Annabel to hold.

"It looks like any normal ancient village... perhaps somewhere in the Cotswold?" Annabel asked him curiously.

"We are in the Scottish Highlands - just look at the mountains around us. And if you have a closer look, you will see that this is not a regular village."

And so she did. What she found were floating candles illuminating the shops, some window displays that just had to be magic, flying cherubins in a tea shop which was all decorated for Valentine's day, not to mention some very weird looking people walking down the street. One of which…

"'arry! Wha' are yeh doin' 'ere?" the half-giant Rubeo Hagrid asked, making Annabel gasp in astonishment with his size.

"I have some personal issues to attend here... I would love to introduce you to Annabel Morelli, mother of my daughter and... _my future wife_," Harry said with a smile. "Bel, this is Rubeo Hagrid, he was my teacher at Hogwarts, and has always been a great friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you... Rubeo Hagrid," Annabel answered politely, but still unable to hide her uneasiness with the half-giant size.

"Blimey 'arry! Wha' abou' Ginny?" Hagrid frowned and looked at Annabel from head to toe as if he was evaluating her.

"Oh, we broke up not long ago... it is a complicated situation, but honestly, now that I finally have Annabel by my side, I couldn't be happier if I tried," Harry said hugging her waist in a possessive way.

"So wha' the Prophe' is sayin' is true, then?" Hagrid asked and Harry nodded confirming it. "Why don' yeh bring 'em around for a cuppa sometime?"

"That is actually a lovely idea, Hagrid. My flat doesn't have any open space, and it does get a bit too much for the three of us to stay there all the time... and I'm sure that Holly would love to see Hogwarts..."

"Then tha' is decided. Lemme know when yeh and yer two lassies can come over."

Hagrid and Harry quickly waved goodbye, and Annabel waited until they were definitely out Hagrid's ear range to talk to him once again.

"Who was that? Why is he so big?"

"Like I said, Hagrid was my old teacher but is also a very good friend. He is half-giant..."

"Half-giant?" Annabel's eyes were opened wide in shock. "Dragons, giants, elves... why am I still surprised? What is next, mermaids? Fairies? Trolls? Hobbits?"

"I've never heard about hobbits, but the rest are all real..." They carried on walking until Harry led them to a residential area of the village. "So, what shall we talk about with Geoffrey first? About you and me, or about how is the best way to let Holly know that I'm her father?"

"I don't know Harry... I guess... I guess we should talk about Holly first. She is more important..." Annabel said unsure.

"Right... I will let you lead this talk, ok? You know him better than I do, anyway... I just hope we can do this in a civilized way."

They stopped in front of Alicia's house and Harry knocked on her door. Soon enough, the young witch welcomed them both with a warm smile on her face.

"Come in, both of you. Geoffrey is waiting at the drawing-room. He is very excited to see you again, Annabel." The witch said with a very warm smile. Harry and Annabel exchanged a meaningful glance. "Where is your little one?"

"Holly is with my friends," Harry answered.

"Whereabouts?"

"At Ron's parents... it is Arthur birthday today..."

"What a shame! I was really hoping to finally meet her. I've heard she has your eyes..." The witch said looking a bit disappointed. "And I even baked some cookies thinking about her..."

"You will have plenty time to see her once we catch the members of this gang..." Harry said determined.

"And once their house is ready, I imagine?" Alicia asked him. "You are going to keep me on their guard, aren't you Harry?"

"I haven't decided yet... things have changed," Harry said thinking about him and Annabel. Would it make any sense to move Geoffrey along with Annabel and Holly back to her place? They had both adapted really well to his own flat. He would certainly have to talk about it with Annabel and see what was her preference later.

"Where is Geoffrey?" Annabel finally asked.

"He is in the drawing room. Follow me, I will take you both there." They went ahead to walk to the place that the witch had pointed.

Annabel was the first to enter the drawing room, and she found Geoffrey was seating in a flowery cushioned sofa that was overlooking the opposite direction from where she had entered. He seemed completely absorbed by reading a novel book, which she had recognised as one that had once belonged to her dead Auntie - _Pride and Prejudice from Jane Austen_. She couldn't picture a book that would be less Geoffrey-like than that. He didn't seem to notice that she, Harry and Alicia were approaching him, as he looked completely hypnotised by his own reading.

"Hi Geoffrey..." she said giving him a gentle tap on his shoulders.

He immediately stood up in a mix of anxiety and euphoria. Annabel allowed him to hug her tightly, but she turned her face away when she felt that he was about to kiss her. Harry who was just behind her cleared his throat uncomfortably, and Annabel sent him a very uncomfortable glance.

"My beautiful Queen, I missed you so much..." he said pulling her closer to him.

"Geoffrey, _please_... don't do that" Annabel begged him.

But he ignored her plea and tried to bring her even closer to his chest.

"_She asked for you to stop doing that_," Harry said protectively, emanating a strong aura of power that she had witnessed a couple of times before.

Geoffrey looked up to his direction as if he was coming out a trance. He had failed to notice Harry's presence in the room until that moment.

"I don't see why this should be any of your business..." Geoffrey said trying to not look intimidated by Harry.

"Anything concerning Annabel and Holly's well-being is _my business_."

"My daughter and wife are certainly not your business..." Geoffrey said challenging him.

Harry was about to say something to him but Annabel cut him and said it first.

"Geoffrey, Harry knows about Holly..."

"You told him?" Geoffrey said in anger.

"I figured it out," Harry said simply "It wasn't very hard... we do look too much alike after all. And she is a witch..."

"My daughter is not going to be a witch!" Geoffrey said defiantly.

"Holly is a witch, whether you like it or not, Geoffrey. She was born a witch and she will always be one..." Annabel said gently.

"And our daughter needs to be informed that I'm her real father... that is one of the reasons why we are here. We need your help to tell her..."

"You must be joking!" Geoffrey said in a burst of anger.

"Geoffrey, whether you like it or not, Harry is Holly's father... she has the right to know that, and Harry has all the right to be part of her life..." Annabel pleaded.

"Father is not the one who seeds a mother's womb and then disappears to never returns. A father is who raises their children - is who holds their hand when they are sick, is who comforts them when they have a nightmare, is the one gives them a bath, helps them to get dressed, takes them to school, help to put a plaster on their bruised knee... you can be many things Harry Potter, but you are _not _Holly's father."

Geoffrey said those words looking straight at Harry's eyes. Harry tried to ignore how hard they were getting him.

"You are right. I might not have been a father for her until this moment, but only because I didn't know about her existence," Harry said determinedly. "Now that I know about it, there is nothing in this entire world and no one alive who is going to be able to keep me away from her..."

A noise made by a cat at the back of the room, called their attention to the fact that Alicia was still inside the drawing-room, quietly observing their talk.

"Excuse me... I'm going to... water my plants." She gave them a nervous smile and quickly left the room.

Harry waited until she was gone to cast a privacy spell on the door, so Alicia would no longer be able to pry on their talk.

"What do you want from me?" Geoffrey turned to Annabel and asked her directly.

"I want you to help us to tell Holly about her relationship with Harry. We need to do it soon, as everyone else in the magical world already know that he is her father. I want Holly to see the three of us as a strong unit... that we all on the same page when it comes to this... that she has two Dads and one Mum, and that is _ok,_ because we all love her equally..."

"You ask away too much from me, Bel... and give me too little..." Geoffrey looked pained.

"I'm as excited to divide the title of being Holly's father with you, as you are, Geoffrey. But if this is the way it has to be, then I will take it," Harry said.

"I _demand _to see her," Geoffrey started to raise his voice once more. "We have been separated for way too long!"

"I will allow you to see her. _In fact_, I will ask Alicia to take you to my place tomorrow or the day after, so we can all tell the news to Holly together..."

"_Allow me to see her?_ _Who do you think you are?_ Who do you think you are to carry on keeping me away from my family...?" Geoffrey said with pure range.

"I'm Holly's father - her legal magical guardian - and yes, I promise that you will be allowed to see her, but on my own terms," Harry informed him seriously. "I have no intention to keep you away from Holly, but we will need to negotiate this and see what is the best way of doing that..."

"Anna... _do you agree with what he is saying?_ Do you think it is fair what he is doing? Keeping me here away from you and our little princess..?"

"Geoffrey... we need to talk... only you and me," Annabel said after she taken a deep breath. "Harry, please leave..."

"_Bel_..." Harry said concerned. He was not feeling happy about the perspective of leaving her alone with Geoffrey.

"_I can handle him_..."

"_Right_..." Harry said before he left the room, leaving Geoff and Annabel on their own.

Once they were alone, Geoffrey started to walk towards her clearly intending to kiss her. Annabel stopped him from getting near her with both of her hands.

"Please Geoffrey, don't do this... there is something I need to tell you." Her heart was beating fast, and she was starting to wonder if she had done the right thing when she asked for Harry to leave them alone.

"What do you need to tell me?"

"I want a divorce." She took a deep breath trying to find the strength to say what she knew was necessary. "_It's over_. I'm with Harry now... we are back together. I'm so sorry..." She really felt sorry.

"What? What did he do to you? Did he bewitch you?" Geoffrey said furiously.

"Geoffrey... we both know that I never really got over him..." Annabel said, tears coming down her face.

"Even so, _are you out of your mind?_ Did you forget all the things he has done to you?" Geoffrey hissed impatiently.

"_Geoffrey_..."

"Did you forget how many times he has left you? A guy who just go buying any first gossip he hears about you - without even checking your side of the story... a guy who abandoned you pregnant and then comes back from out of the blue, years later, demanding to be Holly's father? A guy who leaves you alone, with an _eating disorder and suicidal_ looking after an infant baby, and doesn't have the nerve to tell you to your face that he didn't want the burden of having to look after both of you..."

"Geoffrey... _you don't know what you are talking about_..." Annabel said with tears were coming down her face.

"But _I do know_. I know _very well_ what I am talking about! He doesn't love you, Anna, _can't you see that?_ When you really love somebody you change your life to accommodate who you love. When has he done that for you? What else does he need to do in order to show you that he never really loved you, Anna? _What else?_ You were nothing but an adventure for him. Nothing but a summer love adventure to take him out of his boredom..."

"Geoffrey, you don't know what you are talking about. If he did not love me, he would not have broken up with his girlfriend; _he would not have asked me to marry him_. What do you know about Harry, Geoff? _Nothing!_ You don't know a thing about him..."

"That is where you are mistaken. I know _everything _there is to know about him! I know him because I have observed him throughout the years - how he treated you, what he said to you... because I wanted to know what he had done to get you so... so _crazy_ for him like you are now! Because I wanted to become exactly like him - so maybe one day you would look at me with the same awe you looked at him..."

"Geoffrey, you are out of your mind!"

"Me out of my mind? No! It is you who are out of your mind! How can you even consider going back to him, after everything he did to us? He is the reason why _our parents are dead!_ Can you understand the gravity of this fact alone?"

"It wasn't like that, Geoffrey... things were not as simple to him as you want to believe. His enemies did that, not him. There was nothing he could have done..."

"_Is that so?_ Why do I find so hard to believe that?" Geoffrey grabbed both of her arms in a tight grip. "I'm not going to let you get back to him Anna. He doesn't love you like I do. Everything he ever did is to ruin our lives. I'm keeping you and Holly here, with me. He doesn't deserve to have either of you!"

"Holly and I are not _things_ for you to keep, Geoffrey... I'm also not a _prize _that Harry might or might not be deserving to receive as a reward for good behaviour or not. _I'm a person_... I have free will. And I'm too tired to be sleeping by your side when my mind and my heart are there with him. It is not fair, for anyone. _It is not fair_ \- not even to you, Geoffrey! You need to find a girl who really loves you..."

"_**I'm - not - letting - you - go...**_" he said pushing her closer and tightening his grip even harder.

"_You are hurting me_..." she said, but he ignored.

"What does he have that I don't? _Hmmm_? What does he do with you, to let you love crazy like that?" he said dragging her against the wall.

"What do you think you are doing, _Geoffrey_?" She was starting to shake from fear what he was going to do. One of his hands had found its way to her throat. Annabel tried to free herself using some of the self-defence movements that she had learned when she was younger, but _somehow _Geoffrey seemed to be able to block them with ease. She didn't understand how he was doing that, as far as she knew, Geoffrey didn't have any combat training.

"So, you don't want to be mine? Then I will_ make_ you mine!"

Annabel went pale. She knew that breaking up with Geoffrey was likely to go south, but she certainly hadn't expected anything like this to happen. But Geoffrey looked _possessed_.

"Please... stop... let me go," Annabel begged while she felt him groping her against the wall. "You are not like that... I know you are not like that..."

But he completely ignored her pleas and forced his tongue inside her lips. Annabel then did bite him with all her might, making him bleed. The shock of the pain made him free her, and she quickly used the opportunity to wiggle away from his arms.

"_You fucking slut!_" Geoffrey cursed when he tasted his own blood.

Annabel ran to the door and left the drawing-room as quick as her long legs would allow her to do so.

* * *

**** Moments before that ****

Harry wasn't feeling very comfortable with leaving Annabel on her own with Geoffrey, but he knew that they needed to have that talk. It was true that Annabel didn't have magic, but neither did Geoffrey, and Harry was going to be waiting for her just a few meters from where they were now. What was the worse thing that could happen given these circumstances anyway? Harry walked around Alicia's house until he found her studying some scrolls and books in her kitchen.

"Hello again, Alicia," Harry said announcing his presence to the witch.

"Oh, did the three of you already finish?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"No... Annabel is still there talking to Geoffrey," Harry said feeling a bit uneasy. He took a seat next to the witch. "She is going to ask him the divorce."

"Oh!" Alicia looked very surprised.

"I'm going to marry her as soon as we are legally allowed to do so..." Harry decided to tell her. "Please, be nice with Geoffrey? It is not like he is having an easy time, anyway..."

"Of course, Harry." Alicia grinned. "Is that what you meant when you said that things have changed? Is that what is making you unsure about what to do regarding their security?"

"Yes... that is pretty much it. I still need to talk about it with Bel... and see what she wants to do. I know that I don't want to live apart from her any second if I can avoid it. But I know that the place we are securing for them to live was Geoffrey's house as much it was hers... I'm not sure what is the right thing to do given our circumstances..."

"I see..." Alicia said thoughtfully. "I don't think you should keep him apart from his family any longer Harry. This distance is really not doing any good for him..."

"I'm not sure if I can endure sharing the same roof as him without killing him, that is the thing," Harry said frustrated. "Geoffrey really gets on my nerves. And sharing the same space for a while, is quite challenging, as you well know..."

"Well, it is up to you, but my opinion is that you should make an effort... if anything, for the sake of your daughter," Alicia said seriously.

Harry took a deep breath in resignation and turned his attention to the scrolls on Alicia's table.

"What are you working on?"

"This is just a little theory that I have about that witch who tortured Annabel at the museum..."

"What is your theory?"

"That her real name is among the muggles who left the museum that day... maybe she blocked her magic temporarily, so we wouldn't see her as a suspect..."

"That is actually a very good theory, Alicia!"

"Thank you, Harry. It is lots of work though... having to check magical registrations all around the world... just have a look at what I have done so far..." she said and quickly went through her research process with him.

"I will talk to Gawain. He should be able to spare someone to help you out with this... it is actually a very good lead..."

It was at that point that Annabel came running in complete distress. Harry immediately stood up to face her. She had tears on her eyes, her hair was messy, and she had a little bit of blood on her lip.

"Bel, what happened?" he asked worriedly.

"_Please, take me out of here, take me out of here..._" she said shaking. Harry felt his blood boiling.

"What happened? Why do you have blood on your mount?" Alicia asked her worried.

"Please, just take me out of here..." Annabel ignored the witch's question while she threw herself into Harry's arms.

"What did he do to you?" Harry frowned when he asked this question.

"Just take me out... please..." she said before she started to sobbing so hard, that he could no longer make sense of what she was saying.

Harry then made her look him in the eyes, and as her mind didn't provide any resistance, he was able to employ legilimency on her without any effort. He was able to find the memory of Geoffrey assaulting her not long ago. He clenched his fists really hard, trying to use all his inner strength not to go back to Alicia's drawing room and curse the hell out of the Muggle man.

"Alicia, would you mind if we use your floo connection?" Harry asked his fellow Auror, Annabel was leaning against his body.

"Of course I don't mind, Harry. Here..." she said offering him some powder.

"Thanks..." Harry grabbed some powder with one hand and carried Annabel with his other one. He entered inside the fireplace and clearly said, 'The Burrow' before they both disappeared in a mist of green flames.

There weren't many people at the Burrow when Harry arrived in a misty of green flames, carrying Annabel in his arms. However, some of the few people that were there didn't seem too pleased to see his arrival accompanied by the muggle woman. However, they all seemed to notice the distress that Annabel was under, and nobody objected when Harry requested for someone to bring him some Calming Draught. As soon as Annabel drank the potion, she not only calmed herself down, but she also fell asleep almost immediately in his arms. It was Hermione who told him the effects where much stronger on muggles, and it could also work as a Dreamless Potion for the majority of muggles - 'r_emind me to lend you a book about the differences and similarities on muggles and wizards physiology and its effect on magical drugs, curses and charms_'.

Ron suggested for him to leave Annabel sleeping in his old childhood bedroom. Once Annabel was safely placed in Ron's old bed, Ron and Harry went down the stairs together.

"What happened with her?" Ron asked worriedly.

"She was assaulted..." Harry sighed, "by her husband after she asked for the divorce."

"Bloody hell!" Ron cursed.

"I've used legilimency on her to see what happened... she managed to escape before anything too serious happened, but... it was enough to leave her in that state you saw..."

They remained in silence for a while before Ron decided to change the topic of their conversation.

"Holly and Teddy gave us quite the scare today, mate. Your daughter did a Disillusionment Charm on herself and Teddy, and had us all running around after them like a bunch of drunken gooses in a snowstorm. We were about to send you a Patronum to inform you that we had lost them when Neville finally spotted the two cheeky monkeys having a laugh under the stairs. And let me tell you, you might be on George's dark book at the moment, but Holly is definitely his new idol..."

Harry chucked with the mental image of Holly and Teddy giving a hard time for all grown-up wizards around. They were definitely marauder's grandchildren.

Luckily there weren't many people at the Burrow when Harry and Ron finally rejoined the rest of the guests who were still around. Hermione was seated just next to Holly, who was eating some macaroni and cheese pasta. Unfortunately, Teddy was no longer anywhere to be found. Arthur and Molly were there, talking with Kingsley and his wife, while George was talking to Holly. Harry was somehow glad to see that Ginny was no longer there. He would have felt particularly bad for having to impose his presence on her. As soon as Holly saw that Harry was back in the kitchen, she went running towards him.

"Harry!" She said with a big smile on her face. Harry picked her up and greeted her with a warm hug and a kiss on her forehead.

"I missed you so much, Holly! How have you been? I've heard that you have been up to no good with Teddy today..."

The girl had a little laugh and exploded a small green ball on his head, making his entire body and hair become green immediately.

"_George_! Recruiting Holly on your evil scheme against me is low blow even for you!" Harry said looking amused.

"Well, Holly is adorable, and you were warned beforehand. I don't feel guilty. This is a prototype by the way... but if it works as intended, the effects should wear off in a couple of hours anyway... until then, enjoy being a green Leprechaun with glasses, Potter."

"How lovely..." Harry said sarcastically.

"At least green does match your eyes..." George said cheekily.

"George! What have you done to poor Harry!" Molly said approaching them. "Fix him up right now!" She demanded.

"Sorry Mum, it doesn't have an antidote... but should wear off in a couple of hours, I promise."

"It better, otherwise you are in big trouble young man!" Molly gave George a severe stern before she looked at Harry, smiling "How are you doing, Harry dear? Can I get you anything to drink?"

"A tea would be lovely, Molly. Thank you." Harry then put Holly back where she was seating, so she could carry on eating her dinner.

Arthur, Kingsley and his wife approached him at this moment to say hi. After Harry given Arthur his best birthday wishes, it didn't take too long for the Minister to ask him what had happened with Annabel. Harry accepted his tea from Molly before he started to tell them.

"We went to see Geoffrey, so Annabel could ask him the divorce... he did not take the news very well, and..." Harry felt unable to carry on saying what had happened between Annabel and Geoffrey. Firstly, he felt bad enough as that had happened during his watch. Also, he thought that it was probably better to keep it low until he talked to Annabel and saw what she wanted to do about it.

"Is she divorcing him?" Arthur asked surprised. "So the thing between you two is really serious?

"Yes. We are together now..." Harry took a sip of his tea, only to find that there was something not quite right with it. "Molly... I'm sorry, but did you put anything on my tea?"

"I'm sorry, Harry," Molly blushed "but I needed to give you a love potion antidote. How are you feeling now, Harry dear?"

Harry immediately looked at Ron, who was repressing a laugh. His brother George also looked amused.

"I'm still in love with Annabel. And I can guarantee that she did not drug me with a love potion, Molly," Harry said leaving his tea on the side. "I'm truly sorry that the things between me and Ginny did not work out as we all wanted... but feelings are things that are outside our control..."

"We were just... so looking forward to having you as an official member of the family, Harry!" Molly said sadly.

"You can still have me as an unofficial member if you would like to. Merlin knows how much I wish I was part of your family. Just be aware that Holly and Annabel will have to come in the package with me from now on. I've asked her to marry me today, and she accepted."

All the adults in the room looked surprised. Even Ron and Hermione who already knew about the news were surprised by how straightforward Harry was being about informing everyone about his intentions to marry Annabel. Holly noticed the change in the atmosphere but didn't quite guess the reason why it had happened.

"Harry... I don't want to give you cold feet - I know that you are an adult, and I respect your decisions... but... don't you think that you are been a little bit too hasty with this wedding?" Arthur said looking concerned.

"I understand why people might be thinking that I'm being precipitate. It does look like it just happened out of the blue... or as Molly here thought, that I've been drugged with a love potion." Harry gave Molly a little smile before he continued. "No, Arthur. I don't think that I'm being hasty. I've been waiting for this moment since I was thirteen years old. I think it was about time... maybe almost six years too late if you ask me. I just can't wait to walk down the aisle with Annabel."

"What does walking down the aisle means?" Holly asked with a frown.

"It means getting married..." Harry answered her.

"What does getting married mean?"

"Getting married is what adults do when they love each other so much that they want to stay together all the time..." Harry told her with a smile.

"And you want to get married to my Mummy?" Holly asked with a frown.

"Yes... I do," Harry told her feeling somehow anxious. "Would you be happy if I marry your Mummy?"

Holly held her chin thoughtfully for a while. All the adults seemed very entertained by her questions.

"Can you marry me too?" Holly asked him seriously, but everyone else started to laugh at her comment.

"I believe, that you will find out that this would be highly inappropriate, Holly..." Harry said with a grin.

"What does inappropriate means?" Holly asked again.

"Here we go... we are in an infinite question chain now. Does anyone else wants to have a go on answering this one?" Harry asked smugly. Everyone else laughed


	26. Revelations

Annabel woke up to an incessant tapping noise that was coming from a very small window just above her head. She was in a completely unfamiliar place, that had fire orange walls and Quidditch posters all over it. Despite that, she was feeling extremely calm. She stood up from her bed and realised that the source of the tapping noise was an insistent owl that was trying very hard to get to her. She opened the window, letting the little owl come inside it. It was the weirdest looking owl she had ever seen, as some of its feathers were vibrant pink, while some others where black and white. The tiny owl delivered her a letter and then collapsed exhausted on her bed. Annabel than spotted a water bottle lying next to her bed, and offered some of that water to the tired owl, who started to drink it as if its little life depended on it. She then turned her attention to the letter, but absolutely nothing could have prepared her enough for its contents.

_Dear Sister,_

_I hope that you and Holly are doing all right and that Kore hasn't got into too much trouble to find you. I guess that now that I know that my niece is a witch like me, I can freely talk to someone from the family about all the madness that has happened with me during the past couple of years. Yes, that is right, I'm currently pursuing my sixth year at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is just the best wizarding school in the entire world! My house is Pukwudgie, which is the warmest and nicest house in the entire school._

_Now, dear sister, you and I need to have a little chat - how come Harry Potter - from all people - happens to be Holly's father? And how come you never told me about it!? How did you meet him? Is it true that he has a dragon tattoo on his shoulders? Can you imagine my face when I saw yours and Holly's picture all over 'The New York Ghost' and the 'The American Charmer'? I was so shocked! None of my friends believe me when I tell them that you are actually my sister - even though we have the same surname and all. Even when I showed them a picture of us together. They told me that I must be faking it to get attention. Can you believe that? Would you mind asking Harry to send me a couple of autographed pictures of him, so I can shut them up once and for all?_

_I wish I had access to a time-turner to write you a proper letter and tell you all about my best friends, my new boyfriend and my life here at Ilvermorny, but unfortunately, I need to finish a 40'' inch essay due tomorrow about the different properties of magical roots that originate from the Campus Elysium, Meadows of Asphodel and Tartarus - and lots of crap that I probably will never end up using. Anyway, send a hello to my favourite niece for me, and if you tell Mr Potter about the existence of my poor self, I will probably become the first American witch that will literally die of excitement._

_Lots of Love from your baby Sis,_

_Emily Morelli_

Annabel read and re-read the letter. It was definitely Emily's handwriting, she was sure about it. Her sister was a witch - just like her daughter was also one. She had never seen this coming. Harry entered the room.

"You finally wake! What wonderful new!" he said, giving her one of her favourite smiles. "How are you feeling?"

Annabel stood up, hugged him and gave him a little peck on his lips.

"I'm feeling much better. Where is Holly?"

"Holly is fine, she is playing with Teddy downstairs. Andromeda was kind enough to bring him over again..."

"Where am I?"

"We are at the Burrow. Ron and Ginny's parents' family home...you have been sleeping here for almost twenty hours."

"Oh..." she said surprised. "You won't believe the letter I just received..." Annabel said shoving Emily's letter in Harry's face. "My sister Emily is a witch. She is a witch, and she is asking for your autograph... what the heck?"

Harry chucked a laugh and quickly scanned the letter that Annabel's sister had sent.

"How interesting..." he said carefully examining the letter as if he was checking for its authenticity. "This is unexpected. I am certainly not going to send her my autograph, but I would love to write her a letter..."

"You want to write to my sister?" Annabel raised her eyebrow in surprise.

"Yes, she is my sister-in-law now, isn't she? Nothing more natural than me wanting to get to know her..." Harry said with a smile. "And I never had a sister-in-law before, especially not one so young and American. So this is bound to be interesting..."

"Shame you don't have any siblings for me to nag and request some dirt on you..." Annabel sighed.

"That is half true... well you know Duddley better than me, I guess... and Ron and Hermione are probably better than siblings for me in this aspect. I'm pretty sure that Hermione would be delighted if she ever receives a letter from you, Bel."

"I will write a letter for her, then. I really liked your friends, Ron, Hermione and Neville... they were all really nice to me. Although yesterday, I had a feeling that your giant friend didn't seem too pleased with my presence..."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Bel. I'm sure that Hagrid will love you once he gets to know you. He just likes Ginny a lot, and he is also a little bit of a mother hen with me. But I'm sure that once he sees how nice you are and how happy you are making me feel, I'm sure that he will be giving us his blessing in no time."

They remained quiet for a brief moment where he played with her now long hair, and she got herself cosied around his shoulders until he decided to break that silence.

"We need to talk about what happened yesterday between you and Geoffrey..." he said raising her chin so she would look him in the eyes.

"I don't really want to talk about it, Harry..." she said trying to avoid looking him in the eyes despite his efforts.

"How about that condition where you stated that we should not keep secrets? Was that one-sided? Just valid for my secrets?" he asked her smugly.

"This is different..." she said trying to hide the shame that she was feeling.

"Bel, I know he assaulted you. I saw everything he did when I looked inside your mind..."

"You did what?" Her eyes opened wide in shock.

"Sorry Bel, I had to know what was making you feel so panicked... you weren't able to speak, and I had to ensure that you were safe..."

"So every time I don't want to tell you something you can just go ahead and read my mind like it is an open book?" she said, feeling annoyed.

"Now Bel, you are been very unfair with me. I never used this on you before, not even when I had all the reasons in the world to do it - I do respect your privacy. But at that particular moment, I just had to know what was going on. You should have seen how panicked you were."

Annabel gave a long sigh of resignation.

"Right... so you saw what Geoffrey tried to do with me. What else there is to talk about?"

"There is everything to talk about. Firstly, how are you feeling? Is there anything you would like me to do?"

"How do you think that I am feeling, Harry?" she asked while she walked away from where he was as if to have some space. "I feel emotionally drained from our conversation, and for what followed it. The Geoffrey that I knew - or the Geoffrey that I thought I knew - would never attempt doing something like that..."

"Would you like to report what happened to the authorities?" Harry asked seriously.

"No. Definitely not. I don't want to report this. I don't think that Geoffrey was in his right mind when this happened..." she said determinedly.

"Are you sure, Bel? His mind seemed to be working perfectly well for me," Harry asked with a hint of frustration in his voice.

She nodded silently.

"Even if you don't want to report it, please allow me to call Ron here so we can both collect and file the evidence... just in case you change your mind sometime in the future..." Harry pleaded.

"Thank you, but no thank you, Harry," Annabel answered determinedly. "Geoffrey has been isolated for a long time now... no wonder why he is doing so many weird things. And he is Holly's father as well, and nothing really serious happened. I don't feel like pressing any charges. It was not like he really did..."

"It doesn't matter! He would have done it if you haven't managed to escape... you were so lucky, can't you see that?"

"But he didn't do it in the end. And we can't really say for sure what would have happened, can we? It was nothing but a little scare in the end. Besides, it was probably my fault... I shouldn't have asked to be left alone with him"

"This is not your fault, Bel, do you understand?" he said bringing her near to him. "It is never the victim's fault! You were brave... you were lucky. You managed to get away with nothing but some of his own blood on your lips. But things could have turned out so much different... with the silencing charm I placed on that door, me and Alicia would not be able to hear anything. You could have screamed for help and we wouldn't know what was going on... but Geoffrey is the one to blame here... he should have known better than to do that to you."

Annabel started to slowly let go of the tears that she had been restraining. Harry hugged her. Annabel still had Geoffrey's blood all over her lips. Harry didn't want to wipe it off before in case she decided to press charges against him. But now that he saw that wasn't going to be the case, he made a handkerchief with his wand, wet it with magic and started to carefully wipe her face. He sat down on Ron's bed and placed her on his lap.

"I'm not sure if I will ever feel comfortable leaving Holly with Geoffrey now that I saw what he almost did to you."

"Harry... he is her father as well..." she said after she dried her own eyes. "We can't keep him away from her forever..."

"We should keep him away from her if we think that he might a danger to our Holly. And that is exactly what I think he is now." Harry passed his hand on his head with frustration, leaving his hair even messier than it usually was. "I can always ask Kreacher to follow them around without being seen... but leaving Geoffrey alone with Holly after that... don't even ask me to be okay doing that, as I'm sure that I never will be able to do it from now on."

"For now you can do as you wish... I don't feel like I'm in my right mind to make any decisions like that at the moment..."

"But I must insist to hear your insights on some things that I need to decide now. For example, your house magic-proofing implementation is finally completed. My original plan was to move you, Holly and Geoffrey, there, and have two Aurors there with you all the time. But this was before us making up... and certainly before Geoffrey did that to you..."

"I don't want to see Geoffrey anytime soon Harry. I need some space to get my head around what just happened... can we please carry on living with you for the meantime? I'm really enjoying our life together there... but I would love to visit my house to pack some things that I need. You know, Valentine's day is approaching, and one of my bakers quit last week. I will need to work, there is no way around this, and I am not even taking new orders - just to honour the ones we already got."

"That is perfectly fine," Harry said giving her a big smile. "We can grab your things later today. I'm going to increase the security on my place though... maybe I will ask for Ron or Hermione to be my secret keeper..." Harry whispered the second bit of the sentence to himself.

"This doesn't mean that I'm agreeing to remove Geoffrey from our life, Harry. He was right... he has the right to see Holly. Can you organise this somehow..."

"I will try to organise something, ok? Though, mind you that this is far from being on the top of my priorities," Harry said with a sigh. "And as long it doesn't involve getting Geoffrey alone with her..."

"Fine. I trust your judgment. I'm sure you will do what is best..." Annabel said snuggling him. "And we probably should go ahead and tell Holly that you are her father without Geoffrey's presence... because I know that I have been delaying this for far away too long, and this is starting to get silly now. What do you think about it?"

"That is what I have been trying to get you to do this whole time. So yeah, I'm totally up for that. We tell her whenever you think it is the right time."

"Right... "

They stayed in silence until Annabel broke it by starting to cuddling him. They stayed there, just enjoying the soothing feeling that came from it. Until she decided to break the hug and give him one of her unique sly looks.

"But right now... can you read my mind and see what I would really rather be doing?"

Harry raised his eyebrow in surprise. He couldn't resist her invitation and looked down at her big brown eyes to see what was hiding within. He smirked smugly when he saw her lustful thoughts that were all directed to him. He did not know how she was able to switch from the serious topics they have been discussing to feeling so horny like that, but he wasn't going to complain about it.

"Do you want to do that now? You cannot be serious!" he asked baffled, but he also felt the excitement of the situation starting to take over his body, nonetheless. "You are such a naughty girl, Bel... so horny, so insatiable. What should I do with you, hmmm?" he said removing his belt.

"I don't know..." she said with a fake innocent smile. "You tell me..." she said biting her lips and taking him over the edge just by doing that.

She looked so sexy, that he could hardly resist any longer. He cast a couple of privacy spells on the room and looked back to her, who had already laid down at Ron's old bed and was throwing him an inviting look.

* * *

Going down the stairs of the Weasley's household holding Annabel's hand after being up to no good with her in Ron's old bedroom and finding his best friend playing with his daughter in the garden was a peculiar experience. Especially when that friend gave him a knowing smirk that told Harry that he knew exactly what he and Annabel had been up to. Ron had been busy entertaining the kids by coordinating a hide and seek game. Molly and Andromeda were talking and having a tea together when Harry entered the kitchen with Annabel.

Andromeda waved and muttered a hello to the couple. Molly tried to ignore their arrival, but Harry cleared his throat to announce their presence.

"Hi Molly, do you have any lunch leftovers by any chance?" Harry asked to the Weasley's matriarch.

"Of course, Harry dear. Do you want me to heat it up for you?"

"No, don't worry. I can do it. It is for Bel..." Harry said before he walked over the place where he knew the food would be.

"Oh, Harry! Please, I'm fine..." Annabel tried to save him the trouble to fix her some food.

"Come on, Bel, you need to eat something. It has been more than a day since the last time you have eaten. You must be starving..." he gave her a look that told her that he would not be easily persuaded on this regards. "Besides, you don't want to be rude by not even trying Molly's famous beef stew."

"All right, I see that I can't argue with you, right?" Annabel said helping herself to a place on the dining table where Molly and Andromeda were seating.

Molly moved uncomfortably in her own seat, while Harry happily moved around her kitchen heating up some of the lunch leftovers with a charm. It took only a few seconds for him to bring over the plate with food for her, who slowly started to eat it. Annabel could sense the heavy atmosphere in the air, feeling pretty much like the white elephant in the room. She knew that she could not really blame the Weasley's matriarch, as she was Ginny's mother - and she knew that the whole situation was really beyond awkward.

It was Andromeda who decided to break the ice by starting to talk again, asking Bel a question about her catering company. Annabel answered her promptly and praised Molly's food. Harry was pleased enough with how the interaction between them was going, and even though he knew on his heart that Annabel was probably never going to be fully approved by Molly Weasley, mutual respect was all he could wish and hope for. Harry was about to leave them to it and join Ron and the children outside in the garden when an unexpected visitor arrived at the Weasley's fireplace.

A young man that Harry would be able to recognised anywhere in the world - long platinum blonde hair neatly tied away behind his ears - Draco Malfoy seemed to look more and more like his father every year that went by. Harry and the witches present in the kitchen all looked at him with surprise, as his visit was unannounced. Besides, a Malfoy visiting the Weasleys household was certainly not a thing that had ever happened - at least not during the last three hundred years.

"Potter... the man I needed to see," Malfoy said with the usual arrogance present in his voice. "You are quite hard to find, and my owl was struggling to find your place..."

"Draco, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Harry asked surprised.

"Apparently your idea of forcing me to attend to those boring meetings from the Law and Enforcement Department have paid off after all," Draco said, looking from Annabel to Harry with a sneer. "I believe I have some information that is of your interest."

"Let's find somewhere private," Harry said leading the way to one of the bedrooms - the one that used to belong to Fred and George - so they could have some privacy.

"This place is worse than what I had anticipated, and I tell you what, I had very low expectations about it..." Draco said examining the worn bunk bed of the twins room.

"If you came here to criticise..." Harry stared giving Draco a severe stare, but Draco never let him finish his sentence.

"I believe that I know the identity of the witch who attacked your Muggle at the museum..."

"Do you?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yes, I do," Draco said removing some pictures from his pocket. "Her Grandfather brought her over to a ball that my family threw at Malfoy Manor during the war..."

Harry immediately grabbed the pictures from Draco's hand to have a better look at them. He recognised that witch straightway. Her long and unmistakable red-hair adorning her dedicated face. She was wearing a traditional silver ball gown that went up to her knees. After he saw one picture where she was standing alongside Draco himself, it was clear that they were about the same age.

"I don't remember seeing her in Hogwarts..."

"It is because she's obviously never been there. She went to Koldovstoretz Academy. She is related to the founder of that school through her mother's side of the family..."

"And by their association with Voldemort. I'm guessing they are not a family from the light side," Harry said observing the picture with greater attention than before. His eyes lingered on the old man with a trimmed red beard, which was starting to become white, and assumed that he was likely to be her Grandfather.

"Was he a Death Eater?"

"No, he definitely wasn't. I'm sure that he was important enough to be in the inner circle if he was, and I don't recall seeing him in any Death Eater meetings .." Draco said frowning his eyebrow as if he was trying to remember the man in question. "But he certainly supported the cause..."

"Do you know her name?"

"Carmen Garcia the heir of the Nikolyukin and Garcia families. You are an Auror... you probably might have heard about the illegal traffic of human body parts for the brew of illegal potions..."

"I know this is a serious issue in South America..." Harry said frowning his eyebrow and crossing his arms around his chest, worried. Could that be the reason why they were after Holly? To sell some of her body parts in the black market?

"It is a well-known secret, that Carmen's father's family has controlled that cartel for years and years," Draco said in a low voice and pressed both his hands on Harry's shoulders. "She is not someone you want to mess up with. That said, I hope you can remain discrete and conveniently forget that it was me who gave you this information."

"You know, we receive anonymous information all the time. Don't worry, nobody will dream that you are helping me figure things out." Harry had his hand placed on the door handle and was about to open the door of the room when he changed his mind and turned back to face Draco one more time. "Er... Draco?"

"Yes?" Draco Malfoy frowned feeling intrigued.

"Thank you very much for coming here to share this with me... this case is..." Harry paused looking around as if he was trying to find the right words to describe it. "Catching these criminous and having Holly safe means the world to me."

Draco gave him a short nod in acknowledgement.

"Don't thank me, Potter, thank my wife Astoria, who convinced me both to research her identity, and to come here to share it with you." He looked at the window, trying to avoid Harry's eyes. "Unfortunately we have yet to be blessed with children of our own, but I imagine that if we had I would do anything in my power to keep them safe..."

"I thank you nonetheless, Draco. Your wife seems to make you a better person. I wish you both all the best," he said before they left the room and Harry was able to walk Draco to the Weasley's fireplace.

* * *

A couple of days passed by since Draco Malfoy informed Harry about the true identity of the witch who had tortured Annabel and tried to kidnap Holly, but the Aurors remained completely clueless about their motivation on the crime, and they seemed as far away from capturing that unusual gang as they had been before knowing that information. The only progress that seemed to be happening was that Gawain Robards and Kingsley Shacklebolt decided to arrange some meetings between the British Ministry of Magic and some other foreign authorities to seek help with that case. However, despite his claims, Harry was refused entry to these meetings by Mr Robards.

"Harry, you asked for my permission, and I said no - and that is my final answer, please stop insisting!" Robards was trying hard not to raise his voice. Kingsley, Gawain and half a dozen Ministry officials were standing in the lobby, as they were on their way to catch a portal key that would take them to a meeting with the Russian authorities.

"But..." Harry was about to start, but Gawain cut him off by raising his hand and giving him a harsh look.

"If you want to be more involved in the investigation, it is fine with me - but then you need to hand the security of your family over to somebody else. You should be there with them now. Not here."

Harry was about to protest when Kingsley touched his shoulders in an attempt to calm him down.

"Harry, you need to agree that Gawain has a point. Doing both witness protection and case investigation would be too much for anyone to handle. Take this chance to focus on your family. We are a team, we work together, you need to trust that we are going to do the best we can to catch them..."

"It is not that I don't trust you..." Harry said apologetically.

"I know... it is hard to leave things in the hands of other people. But I promise that I'm going to personally keep you updated about the progress on this case, Harry. Now we need to go - we don't want to leave the Russian president waiting..." Kingsley said checking his watch.

Kingsley had been true to his word about keeping Harry updated on the case progress - or any lack of it - as Harry would receive a daily letter from the Ministry himself, detailing everything he knew about the case to Harry.

Even though he wouldn't deny that he was glad to have all that time to spend with Holly and Annabel, this feeling of having his hands tied and not being able to do anything to catch the people who had tried to murder the woman he loved and kidnap his daughter was making him insane.

The fact that they were not able to leave the house very often did not help to lighten his mood. The fact that his house did not have a big outdoor space also made the cabin fever feeling that he, Bel and Holly were constantly feeling increase. They did go out, visiting Hagrid once and Teddy and Andromeda twice, but Harry felt a little bit wary of doing these outings too often, as he knew that it made them more vulnerable when they were in transit from one place to the other in case of a possible attack.

After Annabel retrieved her baking tools form her house, she had been constantly busy at Harry's kitchen, testing some recipes that she was going to do for some orders her company had for Valentine's Day. She had been so focused on her baking, that she seemed to have forgotten that she had decided that it was time for Holly to learn the truth about Harry being her true father. The four-year-old girl had been asking about Geoffrey's whereabouts less and less often every day that went by, and Harry couldn't help but feel like this was the best moment for them to have that conversation with their daughter.

He was reading some old articles about the human body parts trafficking in South America at the breakfast bar, occasionally observing Annabel finishing decorating a batch of heart shaped small cakes that would need to be delivered to a famous department store. The treats were going to be a giving away present for the customers who would shop there on that festive date.

"What is inside these? It is smelling lovely!" Harry said looking at the small cupcakes that she was now frosting.

She smiled back to him before she answered.

"I'm glad you liked it, because you were my inspiration for it," she said and she grabbed one of the little cakes that were ready and offered for him to try it on. "It is a treacle tart cupcake... it is one of the three flavours that I'm making for that Valentine's day project I told you about..."

He took a bite of the cake that she was still holding for him to try, and he felt in heaven.

"This is... wow! You know that I am not very fond of cupcakes, but I think that you just made my new favourite dessert..." He grabbed the cupcake from her hands, making her smile widely at him.

"You know... this client that I am doing this special Valentine's treats for was our first big client. They were doing a cocktail at their store at Regent Street and I remember that I was so anxious that I couldn't even sleep the day before. But when the trays started to come back all empty I felt so ecstatic and happy. I knew then that we had nailed it!"

"I wish I were there to share that moment with you..." Harry said walking inside the kitchen in order to be able to pull her to a hug.

"There will be many good moments for us to share, I'm sure," she said letting him hug her, but at the same time avoiding touching him as her hands were dirty with buttercream. "You, Holly and me... there is nothing that can tear the three of us apart now."

Harry answered her by bringing her closer and giving her a passionate kiss. Annabel answered accordingly, and as usual for them, it was escalating quickly. Before any of them realised, she was sitting down at the breakfast bar, her legs wide open hugging Harry, who was trying to remove her clothes.

"Harry, we should stop..."

"Why...?" he asked tightening his grip on her legs and not making any movements, showing he had zero intention of stopping.

"Because..." she started, but let a moan escape her lips as she found it hard to focus whenever he was kissing her neck. "Holly is awake upstairs..."

"She is with Kreacher..."

"Yes... and she is going to be hungry soon, which means that we should clear this mess and start thinking about dinner..."

"Don't worry, have you forgot that I am a wizard? I can do that in a second..." he said intensifying the pressure his body was making against her crotch.

"I think we should stop... and ask Kreacher to make dinner tonight," she said trying to move away from his tight grip. "And go upstairs and tell Holly that you are her father."

Only after hearing that last sentence was Harry able to let her go. A wave of excitement was taking over him.

"Do you want to do this now? Are you sure?" Harry asked even though he feared that she could still back down from her word.

"Yes, I'm sure. I've been delaying this for way too long now. I just wish that... we could have done this in a different way. But... after what he did..." she avoided his eyes, but Harry didn't need to read her mind to know exactly what she meant.

"It will be fine. You will see. We both have bonded really well. She is going to love it, I'm sure..." he said trying to pass some of the confidence he was feeling to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Super nervous? I fear that she is going to hate me for not telling her earlier..." Annabel said trying to adjust her shirt and wash her hands, which were still sticky from the frosting. "At least I have some cakes to bribe her to love me again if she decides that she is going to hate me forever after that..."

"Don't be silly. Come here," he said turning her around so she would face him. "The bond the two of you share is too strong... there is nothing that can break that. She will love it, I'm sure. You don't need to be scared..."

"I can only hope that you are right about this..." she said giving him a weak smile before they turned to embrace the complicated task ahead of them.

* * *

Both adults were sitting on beanbags on the floor facing a young four-year-old that was sitting on the red footstool that belonged to her temporary bedroom at Harry's place. She was looking expectant to them, and the adults were exchanging nervous glances among themselves. Even Harry, who had been so chill about telling Holly the truth, could feel the tension that arose from that awkward situation.

"Holly... do you remember when you asked me and Geoffrey where the babies come from?" Annabel started trying to look confident.

Holly nodded. And then she looked extremely ecstatic.

"Are you going to say that I'm going to have a baby brother or a sister?" the little girl said looking hopeful with the possibility.

Both Harry and Annabel gasped at her assumptions, making some of their tension fade away.

"No Holly, unfortunately, that is not the case," Harry said giving Holly an apologetic look. "I would be delighted if that was..."

Annabel, however, looked shocked about this idea.

"Talk about yourself... I would be panicking if that was the case..." she said glaring at him.

Harry gave Annabel an apologetic look before he turned to Holly again.

"I'm sure we will be able to convince her to warm up to this idea later," Harry winked to Holly who winked back at him. Both father and daughter then shared a smile that melted Annabel's heart.

"Well... what we would like to tell you, Holly, has nothing to do with new babies around... but it is about the circumstances around how you were born. Can you remember what Geoffrey and I said to you when you asked us where the babies come from?" Annabel asked, feeling somewhat more relaxed now.

"The Daddy put a seed inside Mummy's tummy..." Holly said frowning her eyebrows as if she was trying to figure out what they were trying to tell her.

"Yes... that is right. The thing is... when you were made, it wasn't your dad Geoffrey who put the seed inside my tummy. It was Harry. This means that Harry is your Dad..."

Holly turned her head from one adult to the other trying to understand what they just tried to explain to her. Both adults looked at her expectantly in return, waiting to see her reaction after she heard the news.

"But... my dad is my dad... right?" Holly asked confused.

"Darling... I know it must be very complicated for you to understand... but in reality, what it means is that you have two dads instead of one. Your dad Geoffrey, who raised you, and your dad Harry - who put that seed in my tummy that later became you..."

"And I didn't know about your existence at that time Holly… when you were growing inside your Mummy's tummy," Harry felt an urge to say to the little girl who was still looking from one adult to the other. "But now that I know that I'm your dad, there is nothing that can set me apart from you..."

"But my dad is my REAL dad, right? You are just my pretend dad..." Holly said as if she had finally reached a conclusion.

"No, Holly... Harry is your real dad... your biological father. Geoffrey is your step-father..." Annabel said begging with her eyes for the little girl to accept the truth.

"But... I don't want to! I don't want him to be my dad!" Harry tried to suffocate the sour feeling that seemed to have been born in his chest when Holly pointed at him. Holly looked angry for the first time since they had brought that subject to her. "I want to see my dad... my REAL dad!"

"Holly... we already talked about this..." Annabel pleaded once again, but this made the little girl feel even angrier.

"I WANT MY DAD! I NEED HIM!" Holly started to cry in a tantrum. Harry tried to touch her to calm her down, but he felt his hand burnt with a display of accidental magic coming from his daughter. "GO AWAY! YOU ARE NOT MY DAD! I WANT MY DAD!"

At this point, Holly had thrown herself on the floor while she was crying her lungs out asking for seeing her dad. Annabel had tried to approach her as well, but her hand had also burnt the same way that happened when Harry tried to do the same. Annabel and Harry exchanged a pained glance, asking each other what should they do now. Harry sensed that Annabel was about to lose it as well, as she fought against the tears that were trying to leave her own eyes and he dragged her out of the room so they could exchange a couple of words and decide how they should proceed with this unexpected turn of events.

"Everything went wrong!" Annabel said finally allowing the tears to leave her eyes.

"She did not take it as well as I was hoping she would..." Harry said concerned.

"She hated it! I knew that Geoffrey should be present for this..." Annabel said crying hard on Harry's shoulders. He comforted her the best way he could.

"We couldn't know that she would take the news so bad... I feel like we should call Hermione here so she can calm Holly down for us a bit. She is always good knowing what to say and what do..."

"Well, you better magically make her appear then because we clearly need some help now..."

"Right... I will be right back," Harry said before he went down the stairs in order to use his floo network to bring his best friend to help him out once again.

Annabel stayed in her doorway, spying the little girl by the door gap that was still semi-open. She saw that Holly was slowly calming down and putting herself to bed with her dinosaur Teddy tightly on her arms. It was then that she heard quick footsteps climbing up the stairs followed by the sight of Harry closely followed by Hermione. Annabel made a shush gesture for both adults.

"She is tucking herself to bed," Annabel whispered to Harry and Hermione.

Harry and Hermione went to the place where Annabel was standing to also spy the young girl who was somehow still sobbing, but at the same time almost nodding off at that point.

"What a heartbreaking scene..." Hermione was the first one to say something after it was clear that Holly was sleeping. "Shall we go downstairs to grab a drink so the both of you can explain exactly what happened?"

Annabel and Harry exchanged a glance and silently nodded in agreement.

* * *

"...and then she started to scream and tell us that she wanted her real dad, not me... because I'm only her pretend dad..." Harry said almost crushing the tea mug with his hands.

Hermione could clearly see how much these harsh words, ones so casually said by the four-year-old, had affected him. Even Ron, who had also decided to come around after hearing Harry's desperate call for help at their kitchen fireplace, seemed touched by the impact that it had on his best friend.

"That really sucks mate. She really should be taught how to measure the power of her own words..." Ron said feeling sorry for his friend. Annabel was about to answer him back, but Hermione beat her getting there first.

"She is just a kid, Ron... they say whatever comes to their mind. They don't have a filter as we adults have - or that we should have, taking you as an example."

Ron was about to say something back, but Annabel cut him off before he had the chance to open his mouth.

"I feared that something like that would end up happening after we told her... that was why I really wanted Geoffrey to be with us when we did that revelation to her, but he..." Annabel felt somehow unable to finish her sentence, but all those present knew what had happened and completely understood what she wanted to say.

"Bringing him anywhere near you after..." Hermione started to say, but she also felt unable to say out loud what Geoffrey had tried to do. "That would be inconceivable. I think you did the right thing leaving him out of this, Anna..."

"I could not agree more with you, Hermione, " Harry said drinking some of his own tea mug. "I don't want to see that man anywhere near you or Holly if I have anything to say on this matter," Harry said looking straight to Annabel in a tone that showed her that he would not give this up very easily.

"But Harry, he is also her father! He helped me to raise her through all these years. And Holly loves him. And after today, I think that it is very clear that if we want her to accept you in her life, we mustn't hide him away from her like we have been doing..." Annabel said determined to give Geoffrey a chance.

"Bel, that man tried to assault you! Holly might consider him to be her father, but I can't allow him to get near you or Holly with a clean conscious..."

"Harry, he doesn't need to be left alone with her... and you have magic and he doesn't," Annabel tried to reason with him.

"Even so, I still don't like this," Harry said crossing his arms in annoyance. "And I don't think I will be able to refrain myself from punching him if I ever see his miserable self again..."

"Harry, I'm not saying that you are wrong for being cautious, but Anna has some good points. And if it is too hard for you to guard Holly while she is meeting up with Geoffrey, I and Ron can easily do this job for you."

Harry nodded in defeat.

Hermione and Ron stayed there for a little while before they decided that it was time for them to get back to their own place. Before Hermione left she made sure to corner Harry and whisper to him when Annabel wasn't looking.

"That offer that we made you is still open..."

"What?" Harry asked confused.

"Honestly? You are worse than Ron sometimes!" Hermione said with annoyance. "About Valentine's day..."

"Oh, that!" Harry said remembering the offer that both his best friends had made to him - for them to look after Holly, so he could take Annabel to a surprise date or to a small holiday. "I'm not sure if that is a good time now... with Holly not accepting the news as well as we expected her to do..."

"She will warm up to the idea eventually, Harry. You know how children are... they change their minds very easily. One day they say I love you, and the next day they hate you because you refused to let them play another game of Exploding Snaps," Hermione tried to comfort him, but he gave her a long tired sigh before he answered her.

"More than ever I hope you are right, Hermione. I really do..."


	27. Valentine's Day

Annabel and Harry tensed when they heard the noise coming from the small footsteps from the four-year-old walking down the stairs. It was morning, and they haven't seen the little girl since last night. Holly appeared already wearing some fresh clothes and climbed the chair to join Harry and Annabel at the breakfast table.

"Good morning Holly. What would you like to have for breakfast today?" Annabel asked trying to act normal.

"Can I have some hot chocolate and eggs, please?" Holly requested.

"Of course you can," Harry said standing up to make Holly's favourite drink.

"No! I want Mummy to do it!" Holly whined.

"Holly! Be nice! That is not the way to thank Harry for making you breakfast!" Annabel tried to tell off her daughter " Besides, you always said that you love the hot chocolate that Harry makes for you..."

"But now I think I don't like it anymore Mummy..." Holly said looking down her feet. "Mummy, I want to go home. I don't want to be here anymore. I want to go home with you, with Dad and Lola..."

"Oh, Holly!" Annabel said feeling heartbroken.

Harry who was observing their conversation from the kitchen counter also felt a pang on his chest. He left the kitchen counter and walked to the place where Holly was seating and bend down so he would be on the same eye level to the young girl tried to avoid looking him in the eyes.

"Holly, I can see now that it was too much from us to ask you to understand what happened between me and your Mum when we were younger. You might not want to accept me as your Dad right now, but... I thought that we both were at least good friends?"

Holly slowly looked to see him in the eyes.

"I want to be your friend, Harry. But I miss my Daddy..."

"I see..." Harry sighed "I think I underestimate how important this would be for you, Holly. I'm sorry about that..." Harry said with a deep sigh "I promise that I will ensure that you see Geoffrey in the next couple of days, ok?"

The girl nodded and Harry brought the hot chocolate to the table with a wave from his wand. The girl thanked him and remained in silence for most of the breakfast. When she was done, she excused herself and asked if she could play with Kreacher in her room again. Harry and Annabel exchanged concerned glances while their eyes followed Holly going back to her bedroom.

"I must say... this was better than what I was expecting it to be..." Annabel was the first to say what she felt about her daughter's reaction.

"Yes... it could have been worse, but I think that it could also have gone much better..." he slowly sat down, holding his tea mug with one hand and messing his hair with the other one. She could see that he was distressed about Holly's lack of acceptance.

"I believe that slowly she will learn to accept you as her father, Harry. We just need to be patient... she will come around to it."

Harry sighed.

"If there was only something I could do for making Holly soften to this idea..."

"Well..." Annabel said thoughtfully examing her tea mug carefully as considering the implications of her own idea "Maybe there is something you could do..."

"What?" Harry eagerly asked as he adjusted his posture.

"I was thinking that maybe... maybe you could help her to get a new pet? I mean... I know that it won't replace Lola, but... maybe... if you have to help her to look after a new magical pet..."

"We would be forced to spend more time together..." Harry concluded her line of thinking making Annabel smile. "You are a genius, Bel," he said before he gave her a quick kiss on her cheek "I'm going to write up a security plan to take Holly to the Diagon Ally right now!"

And he rushed to his office leaving Annabel free to do her work in the kitchen.

* * *

Even though the witches and wizards that were shopping at Diagon Ally likely had noticed the unusually high number of Aurors and Ministry officials to be walking there at that ordinary Wednesday afternoon, nobody seemed to realised that Harry Potter was secretly hidden among those wizards, carrying the little Holly on his shoulders. It wasn't hard to convince the little girl to come along with him once he informed her that he was going to give her a new pet.

Harry left Annabel earlier in Hogwarts under Hagrid's and Professor McGonagall care. Both father and daughter were wearing the Potter's invisibility cloak which was perfectly capable to cover them both with ease. On each side of Harry were his two best friends in disguise, but there were also other Aurors who had been invited to join the mission at the last minute - and they didn't even know about Harry and Holly's presence at that place.

"It is all clear," Neville said to Ron and Hermione after he scanned the Magical Menagerie for possible traps, curses and jinx. They had also evacuated the shop from the few customers that were inside the shop when the Aurors arrived.

"Give us fifteen minutes" Harry whispered to his friends before he entered the shop. Once inside, Harry finally removed his cloak, revelling him and his daughter's presence to a very confused shopkeeper.

"Mr Potter!" The shopkeeper woman gasped with surprise. "Mr and Miss Potter in my shop! Nobody is going to believe me when I tell..."

Harry felt a bit self-conscious and slowly removed Holly from his shoulders.

"I actually would appreciate if you could keep the discretion about this, Ms...?"

"Mrs Lee." The young shopkeeper answered him. "How can I help you today?"

"We came to buy a new pet for Holly" Harry pointed to the small girl who was holding his hand.

"Oh, but she is so young!" The shopkeeper "parents usually wait until their children receive their Hogwarts letter..."

"Maybe I'm not your usual type of parent then," Harry said looking at an owl which reminded him of Hedwig's. "What do you recommend as a nice pet for a four-year-old witch?"

"As you know owls are always a favourite among witches and wizards, but I'm not really sure if Holly would be able to write enough letters to fulfil their need of feeling helpful, the tabby owls as an example are particularly known to be..." the witch started to lecture Harry about the needs of different types of owls. However, he wasn't paying her much attention, as Holly had managed to escape from his firm grasp and was looking behind some shelves as if she was trying to find something.

"Holly!" Harry called the young girl, who ignored him and carried on with her search. When he went to the place where she was standing, she turned to him smiling, carrying a grey cat-like creature on her lap.

"I found my cat," Holly said giving him an ice-melting smile. "now we can go home..."

"This is Isis... she is a pure-breed Kneazle," The shopkeeper witch said approaching the young witch before she quickly added, "And she is not for sale."

The kneazle immediately jumped from Holly's lap and positioned herself in a way that showed that she was ready to attack the shopkeeper if necessary.

"Now Isis, that is not a very nice thing to do! I thought we were friends! What is wrong with you?" The shopkeeper asked the kneazle.

But Isis turned her back to the shopkeeper and walked between Holly's legs, purring while she did so, and allowing the young girl to stroke her fluffy fur. Holly seemed ecstatic with the cat-like creature.

"I can't believe you are choosing to leave me Isis... we've been together for almost four years now..."

Harry who was observing everything with amusement, decided to break his silence.

"What do you mean by she is 'choosing to leave you'?"

"Well, Isis is a kneazle... which means that she is not an ordinary type of cat. They chose carefully the witches and wizards they bond with. I thought she had bonded with me, but maybe she was just here because she knew that it was the place she needed to be to find your daughter..." The witch answered him with a frown as she looked to Holly and Isis playing by the corner of her eyes.

"Does this means that the kneazle is for sale?" Harry asked the shopkeeper with a smirk.

"I guess so. Not as I would have any saying on it anyway. If Isis is decided to stay with Holly, she would find her way to be with her, wouldn't she? It is in the nature of the kneazle's..."

"How much do I owe you then...?"

"Not so quick, Mr Potter. You will need to have special permission from the Ministry in order to have a kneazle at home..."

"Don't worry, I guarantee that will be resolved before the end of the day..." Harry said while he observed Holly interacting with her new pet. It was clear that they already had a bond.

"Of course you will..." the shopkeeper said with a frustrated sigh. "Isis was a good friend for me in those past years, and as she is the one who is choosing to leave us, I don't feel like it would be right for me to charge your daughter to have her. But, I would strongly insist that you get one of these handbags for Holly to transport her around. Inside there is a very comfortable habitat for Isis to live. And it is also ideal to keep her calm during all kinds of magical transportation, including apparation, floo powder, porkeys, broom ride..."

Harry asked for Holly to choose one of the bags, and she ended up choosing a dark blue one, with an old Egyptian rune on it that Harry did not recognise. He also bought some treats for the kneazle. Holly placed the kneazle inside her new bag, and Harry was already carrying the young girl on his shoulders once again, so they would be able to leave the shop well-hidden under his invisibility cloak when Ron and Hermione rushed inside the shop with their wands ready on their fists.

"Are you all right mate? Your fifteen minutes are over..." Ron asked him.

"I'm sorry, this took a bit longer than I thought it would..." Harry said apologetically while he unfolded his invisibility cloak.

"I was starting to get worried. Why did it take you so long?" Hermione asked.

"Shall we get out here first? I will explain everything once we are all safe in Hogwarts again..." Harry said waving goodbye to the shopkeeper before he disappeared under his cloak before he left the shop.

* * *

"So, Holly, this pretty little thin chosa yeh. Yeh're are goin' to be a grea witch, jus like yer father!" the half-giant told Holly after Harry told everyone present how the kneazle and Holly found each other at the shop.

Annabel, Hermione, Ron, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were squeezing themselves inside the not so large living area of Hagrid's house. Holly was playing with Isis in the carpet, pretty much enjoying being the centre of the attention. Neville had come with them but stayed behind to exchange a couple of words with Professor Sprout.

"Something is smelling nice, and doesn't seem to be rock cakes," Ron said hopefully.

"Ronald! Honestly... I'm sorry Hagrid" Hermione hidden her face with her hands in a sign of embarrassment.

"Don' worry Hermione, we made it for yeh" Hagrid said exchanging a knowing smile with Annabel.

"That's right! I just shared my Grand-mothers secret apple pie recipe with Hagrid."

"What?" Harry said with pretended indignation. "You share your Granny's old recipes with Hagrid but refuses to share them with me? This is unacceptable!"

"Hagrid doesn't use magic to make balls of flour to follow me around when I am trying to cook, so... he kinda wins." Annabel gave him a cheeky glance, which made Harry cross the room to hug her from behind.

"Lemme make yeh some tea," Hagrid announced by waving his umbrella to the iron kettle.

"Don't you think it is dangerous allowing Holly to keep a kneazle as a pet, Harry? I am a cat lover myself, but they have a level three in dangerousness at the Ministry guidelines..." Hermione said looking concerned.

"Theh're harmless, Hermione. Those Ministry folk don' know wha' the're talking abou'"

"They can attack if they sense danger or are in the presence of suspicious wizards. But I don't think she will present any risk to Holly" Flitwick said giving them a knowing smile. "It is known that Rowena had a kneazle pet when she was young too, so maybe I can dare to dream about having a chance to see a Potter in Ravenclaw after all...".

"We shall see about that when her time comes..." Minerva said observing Holly from far away.

"Who wan' apple pie?" Hagrid asked carrying the baked dessert protecting his hands by wearing enormous pink oven gloves.

After eating the pie made by Hagrid and Annabel, Harry got Holly and went on a walk at the surroundings of Rubeo's house in a search for food that Isis would like to have. When Harry announced to the room that was what he and Holly were going to do, Ron and Hermione started to get ready to join them on their food hunt but Annabel stopped them by placing a hand on their shoulders and whispering that Harry needed to spend that moment alone with Holly.

Neville, unfortunately, arrived when the pie was already gone. He informed Ron and Hermione that he had just been invited by Professor Sprout to take the role of the Herbology teaching assistant, as she was hoping to retire soon. He looked very happy with the perspective of being returning to Hogwarts, this time as a teacher.

"So you are going to quit the Auror Academy?" Ron asked him with his mouth wide open in shock.

"Not immediately. I want to wait until this case is solved, you know. I want to help Harry. I really enjoy working with you guys at the Ministry, and my Gran is certainly delighted to see me working at the same job that my father used to work. But as Hannah keeps reminding me, it is time for me to chose my own path and do what brings me fulfilment..."

"The world is going to lose a good Auror, but I'm sure it is also going to gain a great teacher! I'm looking forward to having you here, Neville." Professor McGonagall said bringing a smile on his lips.

* * *

They spent the rest of the day at Hogwarts halls. Ron and Hermione ensured to give Annabel the proper tour of the castle. Harry, on the other hand, spent most of the day with Holly and Isis. He had even taken the girl to the library and borrowed a book that had a whole session dedicated to the care of kneazles that he read out loud to Holly somewhere near the lake. The students obviously noticed the famous trio at the school, and the gossip surrounding their presence at the castle had made to the evening edition of the Daily Profect. Harry and his friends found that out while the evening owls arrived during dinner time at the Great Hall. All of them, including Holly, had been invited to stay for dinner by the Headmistress, who ensured to make space for them at the Staff table.

Holly was almost nodding off when Harry got his family back to his place. He and Annabel went together to tuck her under the blankets for another night of sleep. Isis had joined her on her bed, finding a comfortable spot near her feet. Harry was about to grab a storybook to read to the four-year-old when Annabel asked him to leave her and Holly alone for a moment. He nodded in agreement and kissed both girls on their respective foreheads before he left the room.

"Did you have fun with Harry today?" Annabel asked her daughter.

"Yes... he showed me the castle I'm going to learn magic there when I'm a big girl."

"I saw it too. It is very beautiful there, wasn't?"

Holly answered nodding her head in agreement. Annabel bit her lip unsure if she should say what she wanted to say, wondering if it would make things better or worse. However, she ended up deciding that it was worth a shot.

"Holly... you might not want to see the truth. But it is hard for anyone to ignore the fact that you and Harry have the same eyes, the same colour of hair, the same bonny knees... this is because he really is your father Holly. We wouldn't have told you something like that if it wasn't the truth. If it wasn't important for you to know..."

Holly turned her face to the wall avoiding to look at her mother in the eyes for a moment. Until that moment was gone and she looked back to Annabel.

"But Mummy, I like my Daddy. I miss him..." she said with a whining voice.

"Oh, Holly dear! Your Daddy won't stop being your Daddy. It just means that now you have two Daddys instead of one. Isn't that great? Look at Teddy... he doesn't have any Daddy to play with him... and you here complaining about having two..."

Holly looked down to her knees feeling embarrassed.

"But Mummy, I am missing my other Daddy... I want to see him too..." Holly said

"Well, Harry told us earlier on that you are going to see him soon, right? Just give him a time to organise it, ok?" She said giving Holly a kiss on her forehead. When she was about to turn off the light and leave the room, Holly called her back.

"Mummy, I don't want the bad woman to get me. I'm scared..."

"Don't worry darling. Harry is not going to let anyone get you, ok? He is going to keep us safe now." Annabel said with confidence.

Holly nodded in agreement before she yawned and closed her eyes.

"Night, night Mummy..."

"Night, night my little angel..."

When Annabel left the room, she bumped into Harry who had been standing in front of the room, spying on them behind doors.

"Gosh Harry, you gave me quite a scare now..." she said rubbing her head who had taken the hit.

"It was nice to see you talking to her about me..."

"It is nice to see that she is slowly getting her head around to finally accept that you are her Dad too..."

"The kneazle really helped today. We had lots of fun together learning about them. Did you know that they can cross-breed with cats?"

"I obviously didn't - as you must be well aware, I did not have a magical education."

"Maybe I need to fix that, then..." Harry said with a seductive voice tone, holding her in a tight embrace.

"Oh please, Harry... I can't tonight. I need to work! You know that I need to deliver two enormous cakes the day after tomorrow, and I have not even made the sponges yet..."

"Let me help you then. Let's finish everything you need to bake tonight. You know, I'm sure I can speed things up a little bit with magic." he said hopefully. "And I really want you to finish this soon... now that Holly is getting in terms to accept me, I think that I can allow myself to accept Hermione's offer. I have a surprise for you tomorrow..."

"A surprise? But... how about the delivers?"

"Don't worry, Bel, Kreacher is going to stay here and take care of everything. I just need you to be free tomorrow... and the day after."

"Right... then it is time for you to show me how you can use your magic to speed up my baking," she said holding his hand and leading him to his own kitchen.

* * *

It was mid-morning of the February 13th, the day before Valentine's day when Ron and Hermione came around Harry's place to pick Holly up. She was going to spend an entire day - including the night with them. It was surprising to Annabel, but even more of a surprise to learn that Holly seemed already know about the arrangement even before she did. Holly had spent a few nights away from her before, but then, she had stayed with Mattew and Duddley, who she already knew extremely well. The excitement that her daughter was feeling for leaving her and Harry to join Ron and Hermione for a day really made her surprised. It was only then that they informed her that they were going to take Holly to see Geoffrey the next day, and the excitement that the little girl felt suddenly made much more sense.

"...and please don't forget to brush your teeth, and be a good girl for Ron and Hermione, ok?" Annabel said before she gave Holly a strong hug. The girl hugged her back before she turned to face Harry.

"Holly, my special little one. I'm going to miss you so much!" Harry lifted her up from the ground in order to hug and kiss the four-year-old. "If you feel like you want to come back you just let Ron and Hermione know, right? We can all come back here at any second..."

Ron and Hermione were both looking at the scene feeling amused by their farewell.

"Harry mate, you know that this is just for a day, not for a month right? I hope you remember that you are supposed to pick her up again by six o'clock tomorrow..." Ron said trying to suffocate a laugh, but Harry ignored him.

"We should probably make a move and let these two little birds get on with their thing..." Hermione said approaching Harry and raising her arms in a certain way that showed him that she was ready for him to pass Holly to her arms.

"Holly... don't forget that we love you!" Annabel said getting near to hug Harry's waist with her hand.

"I love you too Mamma..." Holly said looking at them behind Hermione's shoulders. Holly frowned her eyebrows as if she was trying to decide about something before she quickly added: "and I love you too, Harry."

"And I love you my little sunshine." Harry gave her a huge smile.

The couple then watched Ron and Hermione disappear with Holly on the fireplace.

"So... I guess this is the time we say, finally home alone?" Annabel looked at him playfully.

"Well... it could be. But how would you feel if I invited you to a camping trip instead?"

"A camping trip? At this weather? Are you mad?"

"Do I really need to carry on reminding you about the wonders of magic? Don't worry, it is not going to be cold inside my tent..."

"Right, let me just go and pack some clothes..."

"I've already packed for you... the only thing you need to do is holding my hand..."

* * *

Their first stop was at Godric's Hollow. Annabel and Harry first arrived at the outskirts of the small village. Harry placed her hand around his arms before he started leading her all the way to Church Lane. Harry looked lost in his own thoughts, and it was Annabel who decided to break the silence.

"This looks like a very cosy little town. Any particular reason why you decided to come here?"

"Well... I guess there is." He started knowing that he was about to open a Pandora Box by informing her about the mysteries around his own past. "This is where I lived with my parents... and also, the place where they were murdered," he added.

"Oh, right..." she looked at Harry trying to find signs of how he felt about coming back to that place. He seemed calm enough, but there was something on the way he wasn't completely chilled about it. "are you ok?"

"Yeah... I'm fine... just... coming back here always make me think of everything that happened... what really was, and everything that could have been..."

"I see..."

"Come on... let me take you to the village square... there is a statue of them there..."

The village wasn't big, and they quickly arrived at their destination. Harry and she stopped in front of the square obelisk and started to admire it.

"Can you see it?" he inquired.

"What? The obelisk?" she asked in confusion.

"Oh, I forgot about it. Hold on a second" he pointed his wand to her and casted a spell.

"Can you see it now?"

"Your Mum, your Dad and... you?"

He nodded.

"You look so much like your father! James, wasn't he?"

"Yes, James was his name. And I have lost the counts of how many times people said how similar to him I am... except to the eyes. They were Lily's eyes,"

"The most adorable eyes... I was so happy when I realised that Holly was going to have the same eyes as you..."

Harry felt his cheeks turning red.

"And I love the fact that she has your smile..."

"Hey, would you mind to take a picture of us?" Annabel was approached by a young woman who was wearing clothes that she just knew had to be from a wizarding community.

"Sure..." She said offering her hand to take the most eccentric camera she had ever seen.

"OH MY GOD! MERLIN'S SMELLY SOCKS, THAT IS HARRY FREAKING POTTER!" The shorter girl stared hysterically pointing to him.

The other ladies were about to get all hysterical around them when Harry placed a hand on his lips asking for silence.

"This village still have muggles inhabitants, you know?"

"I'm sorry Mr Potter... we just... we got so excited to see you here!"

"Would you mind taking a picture with us? Please?"

"Er... right... but let's do it quickly... I am on a schedule here..."

"You are the best!" One of the girls said hugging his shoulders while the girl with the camera just shaved it on Annabel's hands.

"Can you please take one just us and another one with the statue as well?"

"Sure..." Annabel said on the most polite tone she could muster, even though she was feeling very furious towards the girls from inside. She took a couple of pictures until the three witches seemed to be satisfied and Harry was able to leave them.

"So... you are really famous, right? Statue, fan girls... even my Sister apparently is one of them. I'm dating a rockstar and I didn't even know!" she whispered to him when they were outside the witches earing sight.

Harry chuckled.

"Well... war hero, more likely. And I guarantee that I did not ask for any of this. I usually try my best to avoid it, but today I wanted to bring you here to meet my parents without any polyjuice potion, invisibility cloak or any other form of magical concealment. Come on, let me introduce you to them..."

After that Harry guided her to the small graveyard at the back of the church. Annabel could see that he knew his way around the place really well, and soon they were standing in front of the resting place of his parents.

The whole scene was very emotional, with Harry openly talking to them about Holly, and holding Annabel's hands while he informed the two tombstones that he was going to marry her. It was a bittersweet feeling, and Annabel knew that there weren't many people alive that Harry would have allowed sharing a moment like that with him.

Later, he took her to his parent's cottage, which was still a war monument. He showed her the graffitied sign with messages of support for Harry before he took her to the cottage's entrance. It was standing there that he described to her how the Potters had died and he had survived on that fatidical Halloween night. When he finished narrating his tale, he had to conjure a tissue to dry the silent tears that she had cried.

"Look at that house, that is Bathilda Bagshot house... it will come up at some point during the tale I am planning to tell you tonight..."

"A tale?" she raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Yes. It is about time for me to tell you everything I had gone through after that first night we shared together at your Grandmother's house..." he said placing both of his arms on her shoulders, hoping she would get how much this was going to mean to him.

"You are going to tell me how you defeated Voldemort?"

He nodded.

"Among other things. That is just a small part of the story... but for now, let's talk about merrier things. There is a nice pub down the road. Shall we get some lunch before we start our camping trip?"

* * *

After lunch, Harry took Annabel for a hiking trip in places that she was sure that only a wizard or a witch would be able to reach. The views were stunning, and as more they walked, the more Harry told her about his previous adventures.

However, only during the evening when they had finally made camp and were seating down by the fire eating marshmallows that he shared with details some of the most well-kept secrets about his Horcrux hunting journey. And he really told her everything. Much more than he had ever dared to share with any Minister official.

"Did you really... die when Voldemort hit you with the killing curse?"

"Yes... I mean, I think so. It certainly felt like I did. It was such a weird out bodily experience. But somehow I was able to come back..."

"And I am guessing that like so many things that tend to happen around you, surviving the killing curse - not once, but twice, is not exactly what you would expect the average wizard to accomplish..."

"Bingo! That is why I still have fangirls asking for pictures or autographs all over the world... not that I like it," he quickly added.

"How did you manage to survive?"

"Well the first time was due to my mother's sacrifice, as I already explained to you... but the second time... well, there were so many unique circumstances surrounding that evening, that Hermione, Ron and I couldn't get into a consensus to explain exactly why I survived that killing curse. Albus Dumbledore portrait nodded to my theories but was also very vague about telling which one was the correct one. Later we ended up dropping this subject..."

"Somo of these circumstances you mentioned... are the Hallows, right?"

"Yes... only me, Ron and Hermione know about that bit. I don't really have any intention to let the public to learn about it..."

"But you shared it with me," her eyes were wide open in shock.

"You are the mother of my daughter, and unless you have changed your mind after listening to all these weird things you just learned about my past, you are going to be my wife soon..."

"Obviously I didn't change my mind about it, Harry, your dorkus!"

"In that case..." Harry said checking the time on his wristwatch "As it is already Valentine's day, I think I can give your present now..."

"This is not fair! I didn't get you anything. Well, how could I, been locked away from..." she started complaining and suddenly stopped when she realised that he had to bend down on one knee and was holding a ring box with one hand. A very silly smile was adorning his face.

"Annabel Morelli... would you give me the honour to become my wife?"

"Yes, yes! I already said yes, didn't I? Oh, Harry!" she looked to the solitary ring that he was quickly putting on her finger. She was surprised to see that the ring magically adapted itself to her size.

"This was my mother's engagement ring... I always wanted to give it to you. I'm happy to finally be able to see it where it should be."


	28. The storm after the calm

Sometimes things are just too good to be true. They should have guessed that something bad was about to happen.

It was a quarter past eleven in the morning, but the young couple were yet to leave their bed. And that was not because they were still asleep. In fact, they had been pretty much awake for quite a long time doing activities that required no clothes at all.

Harry was secretly glad that he at least somehow, got to keep his glasses. This was the only way he could fully enjoy the great view he was blessed with while he took Annabel's gorgeous naked body. He could tell that she was going to climax again very soon. And he absolutely adored watching the faces and hearing the noises she usually made when she reached her peak.

However, before they could get to that, Mr Weasley's voice started calling Harry's name from a pocket on his hoody which was currently lying on the floor of his tent. Annabel froze completely, believing for a second that there was another person inside their tent. With a frustrated sigh, Harry rolled her to the other side of the bed and used his wand to magically dress himself. That way, he would be decent when talking to Arthur. Annabel sat down on the bed and threw him an inquisitive look that he promptly ignored.

"Arthur?" Harry quickly replied the same time he tried to absorb the faint expression on the face of the Weasley senior through his magical wristwatch. Arthur looked like he had just gained a few extra years overnight. "Is everything ok?" Harry asked with a frown.

"There was a fire at Hogsmead... your house-elf Kreacher was found dead. Alicia, Geoffrey, Hermione and Ron have all been admitted to St. Mungos. Ron's and Geoffrey's cases are... quite severe..." Harry's eyes were wide open in shock. Something had gone wrong. But how exactly?

"How is Holly doing? Is she all right?" Harry asked already fearing what Arthur's answer would be. He had ordered Kreacher to discreetly follow them to Alicia's house and keep Holly safe by any means possible. He felt guilty about leading the old elf to his death but hoped that it at least had not been in vain. Annabel had stood up and was quickly trying to dress herself up as well, but without magic, she was very slow, especially in comparison to Harry. She could hear their talk and got the general idea of what was going on.

"You need to be strong, son..." Arthur's voice was shaking and Harry braced himself for the worst "Holly was taken. I'm sorry, Harry..."

Harry froze. He felt Annabel's eyes meeting his own, searching for denial... they surely had misunderstood what Arthur had said. But no, the panicked and pained expression on each's others eyes was more than enough to confirm that they had heard the same thing. Harry saw Annabel starting crying at the same time he was fighting his own tears to flow as well. He needed to be strong, for her. And for Holly. Harry increased his grip at the mirror, wondering about where did they take her? The Ministry did not even know why they wanted her yet! He felt like he was a horrible father and a terrible Auror for allowing this to happen to his daughter on his watch.

"Harry..." Mr Weasley looked at him with a fraternal worry. Harry knew he probably looked quite a mess. He then felt arms wrapping him up in a wet sobbing hug, from a half-dressed Annabel. Mr Weasley blushed to that sight, and Harry decided to disconnect the mirror call after giving Arthur a meaningful glance. He allowed then both his hands to wrap her shoulders and burry his head inside her long hair. He was still somehow trying to repress his tears, but a few stubborn ones had managed to escape nonetheless.

Again, he had failed them. Failed to protect his little girl. Again, he made Annabel cry. Holly was somewhere to the mercy of dangerous wizards. How long ago had this happened? Would he still be able to follow their trail if he apparated to Hogsmead now? He was still unsure of what he was going to do once she stopped sobbing, but he knew that he had to do something soon otherwise he was going to go mad.

* * *

** earlier that day...**

Holly was drawing at the coffee table at Ron and Hermione's place. They had already had breakfast and Hermione was double-checking that she had packed everything they might need before they left to Hogsmead so Holly could finally visit her step-father.

"Ronald for Merlin's sake, we just had breakfast!" Hermione rolled her eyes to Ron who was caught smuggling one of the cupcakes Annabel had given to them last morning as a thank you gift.

"Chill Hermione, I was just packing for the road..."

She frowned tried to bite her tongue as she decided to drop this particular battle. She really didn't want to risk being late.

"Come on, Holly, we need to go..." she informed the little girl who promptly stood up.

"I need to get Isis' bag!" she said all worried.

"Don't worry, Ron can get it for you..." Hermione said looking at Ron, who immediately summoned the bag which came flying from their guest room straight to Holly's hand.

"That was so cool!" Holly said her eyes shining with wonder. "Isis, we need to go now!" the young girl said to the cat-like creature who entered the bag without much resistance.

"Are we all sorted now?" Hermione asked both Ron and Holly who were standing on their hall.

"Wait!" Holly said running back to the coffee table grabbing one of her drawings. "Can you give this to my Dad Harry when you see him?"

"Holly, Harry and Anna are going to be picking you up later today. Why don't you give it for him, yourself?" the older witch asked kindly, but Holly gave her a sceptical knowing look. Nonetheless, she left the paper behind at the coffee table before they left their flat and apparated to Hogsmead.

.

Holly was happily seating on Geoffrey's lap at the other side of Alicia's drawing-room, while Hermione and Ron watched their every move warily. Holly's muggle father ignored them completely and carried on reading the very worn out muggle storybook.

"Do you really need to keep your wand ready like this?" Alicia asked Ron with a frown. "What are you expecting this poor muggle to do? Blow her head off?"

"I'm sorry Alicia, but I rather take no chances here. I gave Harry my word that I would be extra careful with Holly..."

Despite Hermione's wand being hidden way, she didn't seem to mind that Ron was holding his.

"_All right_..." Alicia said with frustration "Trinx, we need some of _my special tea_ for the guests..." Alicia calmly said and in less than a minute, a female house-elf dashed to the room carrying a heavy tray with tea and treats.

Hermione frowned after seeing the house-elf and politely refused, whereas Ron immediately lowered his wand in order to help himself to some tea and biscuits.

After that is when things went sour.

Holly's kneazle jumped from her carrier bag and started to attack Alicia's cat. Kreacher, that was somehow inside the bag, followed the kneazle trying to bring it back to the bag. Holly immediately stood up from Geoffrey's lap and grasped his hand, trying to make him leave the couch that he was seating, but he promptly ignored her and carried on reading. Hermione stood up with her wand ready to intervene at the catfight when she noticed that Ron was convulsing and choking next to her. She knew straight away that he had been poisoned._ "We have been betrayed_!", she concluded at the same time she heard the death curse been pronounced by Alicia's mouth and hit Kreacher, killing the poor house-elf who was trying to grab Holly's hand straight away. After witnessing the death of the old house-elf, Hermione quickly pointed her wand at Alicia, but the other witch was already expecting the attack and had whispered another curse towards Hermione's direction.

"Come on Dad, the fire will start soon! We need to get out here!" Holly carried on trying to make Geoffrey stand up, but the Muggle man remained calmly seating down, ignoring everything that was happening in front of his eyes as if he was in a trance.

Hermione managed to dodge Alicia's curse by an inch. She then threw a bombarda maxima to the place where Alicia was standing. The curse collapsed the wall behind Alicia and also caused her to lose her balance and fall on the floor Hermione then kneeled where Ron was seating. She wasn't sure which poison he had ingested, but it was certainly being absorbed very quickly by his body. He needed a bezoar, and luckily she had one somewhere in her bag. After getting hold of the stone with the help of the Summoning charm, Hermione forced it on Ron's mouth without thinking twice.

Unfortunately, on doing so she completely missed the moment where the cat that was fighting the kneazle transformed back into a wizard and then knocked out the kneazle with a flick of his wand. The only thing Hermione heard was a sharp male voice whispering the stunning curse from behind her. Hermione fell unconscious on top of Ron before she could turn around to get a glimpse from her attacker. The wizard then turned his attention to Holly.

"Now, girl... Holly, isn't?" Marco asked the little girl who was still trying to make Geoffrey stand up. "We don't have much time and I really don't wanna hurt you. Can you please be a good girl for once and do this the easy way this time?"

Holly frowned in a defiant way that made her look extremely like Harry. She stood there head up high, not letting it show the fear she was feeling appear on her face.

"You are one of the bad guys. You hurt them!" the little girl asked not ready to trust that unfamiliar wizard that had just knocked out both Isis and Hermione a few seconds ago.

"Your pet is fine, and so is she..." he said pointing to Hermione. "they are just sleeping, I give you my word."

"But Kreacher is not fine..."

"Can we just grab the brat and go?" Alicia's voice cut them sharply. She was looking very ragged and with gun powder covering her entire body.

"You're awful with children, **Carmen**. Come here Holly, the Lady broken face here is impatient. Let's go. You know you have little choice but leave with us, don't you?"

Holly stepped back not really wanting to do what these adults wanted her to do. She looked back to Geoffrey, but he remained calmly reading the children's book as if nothing else was happening around him.

"What are you planning to do with the Aurors ?" **_Carmen polyjuiced as Alicia_** asked pointing to Hermione and Ron.

"Just leave them. They are no threat to us now" Marco answered her as he carried on walking to the corner of the room where Holly was. "It is a shame that Alicia started fighting the Imperio last week... it would have been good to be able to carry on having someone sending us updates on the Auror's progress on this case..." he then offered his hand to Holly to hold, but the young girl shooked her head nervously getting even more near to the wall. Carmen then seemed to have enough and hit the young Potter with a stunning curse.

"Carmen!"

"Take this brat out my sight before I'm forced to deal with it myself!"

Mark sighed, but carried the girl on his shoulders nonetheless and apparated away with her as soon his feet were out of the house's anti-apparition wards. Carmen followed him, but before she apparated, she looked back to the house and casted a magical fire on it. She then gave a small evil grin and followed Mark and Holly to their previously arranged meeting point.

.

It turned out that what had saved Ron's and Hermione's life, was the famous Weasley clock. When Bill noticed his youngest brother's name at 'Mortal Peril' that morning, all the family that was at the Burrow at that time decided to go after them in Hogsmead. After all, Molly and Arthur knew what their youngest son would be doing that morning. When Arthur, Bill, Molly and Ginny arrived at the place where Alicia's house was, the fire was spreading fast, but the house was still standing. By the time the Aurors finally arrived at the Wizarding village, the Weasley's had already rescued Ron, Hermione, Geoffrey and Alicia, even though other three houses had also started to catch fire. It took some time for them to control and extinguish the magical flames, but the inhabitants of Hogsmead helped them out. Transferring all the injured to St. Mungos had been the easier part. Hermione was the first to regain consciously, and the first thing she did was informing the others of Alicia's role in the attack. The Aurors wasted no time placing Alicia's in a maximum-security room for later interrogation.

.

After a brief stop at Hogsmead to see how the investigations were going, Harry and Bel arrived at the Magical hospital and been sent to the ward where Hermione was still been kept for observation. Molly and Ginny were talking to Hermione in low whispers when they arrived.

"Harry... Anna..." Hermione acknowledged their presence making Molly's and Ginny's heads turn to see them as well. Hermione had a great amount of a yellow paste compressed on her face and arms. Harry immediately identified it as a normal treatment for some types of magical burns. There was a brief moment where Ginny's and Harry's eyes met uncomfortably, and Annabel who knew exactly who she was, also felt uneasy and decided to excuse herself to use the restroom, but she was cut off by Ginny.

"No, you stay. Mum and I were about to leave to see if we can get any update on Ron's state anyway" Ginny told them as she grabbed her mother's hand and walked away from Hermione's ward. "I'm sorry about Holly..." she quickly added looking from Harry to Annabel before she let followed by her mother.

"I'm so so-sorry, Harry!" Hermione started sobbing. "But Ron was... I knew he was going to die if I..." she looked very distressed. Harry quickly sat in the bedside chair and started stroking her hands.

"Hermione, it is ok. I don't blame you. You and Ron did everything you could..."

"I should have noticed that something was off... a kneazle wouldn't behave oddly like that for no reason! But everything happened so quickly! I didn't have time to do anything..."

"If there is anyone to be blamed by Holly's kidnapping it's me, Hermione. I was in charge of Holly's security..."

"But you were not even there, Harry!"

"And that is precisely why I'm taking the blame... I shouldn't have left her side..."

"Now, you listen to me, Harry Potter!" Hermione started angrily brushing the tears from her face "You know they would have tried to get her with or without you been there..."

Harry was about to protest, but he was silenced by Annabel who placed a hand on his shoulder to call his attention.

"Can you please stop arguing about who the blame of this was? It doesn't matter now. Arguing about this is not going to bring our Holly back. Hermione, I've heard an Auror saying that you told them there was a traitor..."

"Yes, it was Alicia, Harry. She asked her house-elf to serve poison to us... I'm sure there was at least one other person at her place as well. I've heard his voice, but I was stunned before I could see his face..."

"Gawain told me that there were a couple of inconsistencies in what you said that happened and some of the clues that were found on the crime scene. We will definitely be requesting to see your memory of this event sometime soon. One thing that we do have proof now, is that Alicia was, in fact, casting dark magic. The priori-incantatem on her wand informed us that she has been keeping Geoffrey under the Imperious curse..."

Hermione's eyes were wide open in shock with this revelation.

"Oh, Harry! I can't believe I didn't notice! But now you told me that, I remember his eyes were really a little bit unfocused if I stop to think about it..."

"You are not the only one who didn't notice Hermione. Last week, I went there with Bel, remember? I saw him, talked to him, and still... I failed to recognise the signs of Imperio that Mr Harrison had..."

"What... what are you two talking about? What happened to Geoffrey?" Annabel decided to ask them.

"As far as we are aware, Geoffrey has been controlled with an extremely dark curse called Imperious. It is some sort of dark mind magic used to control someone else's mind and behaviour. Because of that, he can't be considered responsible for any of his actions during that time... not really..." Harry gave a meaningful look to Bel that understood the hint.

"So when he tried..." she said blushing slightly.

"His mind was likely already altered. We cannot know for sure when she started to control him this way or what Alicia was ordering him to do, but the fact that he has been on the influence of Imperio is enough to cloud his mind and alter his behaviour. So even if Alicia didn't specifically order him to attack you, he can't be considered accountable for his actions..."

"In that case... I think I would like to see him..."

"Bel, maybe it is good to wait a bit. The Imperious Curse tends to have a much stronger effect on muggles, and considering what happened during the last time you two were left alone..."

"Then go and see him with me. I just... I want to make sure he is ok, you know?"

Harry twisted his lips in a sign that he was averse to this idea, but he nodded in agreement regardless.

"But first I need to go and talk to Gawain again. I want to check if there is any new lead on the whereabout's of Holly..."

"Go on, Harry... make yourself useful. I will look after Anna for you." Hermione said seating up.

Harry hesitated for a moment, but Bel gave him an encouraging kiss on his cheeks.

"I will be fine. Go and catch them, babe. Our Holly needs you..."

He returned a kiss on her forehead and nodded in agreement. With a last glance to Hermione, Harry left the room leaving both females alone. They stayed in silence for a few moments, before Hermione decided to break it.

"How are you holding up?"

"Honestly? It feels so surreal. It feels like she is going to come running from a door at any moment. I can't believe that she won't... it just... she is my world, Hermione. She has been the centre of my life for so many years now..."

"Believe me, if there is anyone that can bring her back, Harry is this person..."

"He is really quite something, isn't he? Yesterday he finally told me what the three of you done during the war... he took me on a camping trip..."

"Did he really? I'm certainly done camping for life, after that year..."

"How about you? How are you holding up? I mean... Ron is your fiancee isn't he?"

"Yes... I am sure he will get through this... he has gone through worse... it is not the first time he has been poisoned. He will be fine." she answered more to herself than for Annabel.

There was a knock on the door, followed by a healer who entered carrying a tray with a green paste inside a small black cauldron.

"Hi, can you confirm your name and date of birth, please?"

"Hermione Jane Granger, nineteen of September 1979..."

The healer smiled and placed her tray at Hermione's bedside table. The eggy smell from the cauldron and hit Annabel's nostrils making her feel suddenly very sick.

"All right, I'm a trainer healer and I was asked to change your..." but the healer never got to finish her sentence because she was interrupted by vomiting noises coming from the only muggle in the room.

.

"No... no... no... this can't be right! It is impossible!" Annabel said in denial to the three witches in the room.

Annabel was now laying down on the patient bed, as Hermione had insisted her to take her bed. When the healer witnessed Annabel sickness, she immediately called one of her senior colleagues and they started poking her around doing all sorts of magical tests. They first thought she could have acquired some sort of magic hospital infection, but after an extensive session of diagnostic spell casting, followed by an extense analysis of the oddest body parts Annabel could think of - including her fingernails, hair and saliva. In the end, both healers concluded that the only abnormal thing with her health that could have trigged the vomit was her yet unknown pregnancy.

"Impossible or not, here they are..." the senior healer said placing a weird-looking magnifying glass machinery where her uterus was. Despite the fact that Annabel was still wearing clothes, it still gave them a clear vision of what was happening inside her body much more accurate than any other muggle scanner that Annabel had seen.

"Here they are. Identical twins, can you see? By the looks of it, the split probably occurred around five days ago. You can see how each one have their own amniotic sac and outer membranes? My guess would be that the conception happened around eight or nine days ago, perhaps?"

"You and Harry really don't waste any time..." Hermione gave her a smug grin.

"I have an IUD device on me. I shouldn't be able to get pregnant!" Annabel claimed with frustration**  
**

"Well darling, there is no sign of any muggle device here... if you ever had one, it has gone..." the healer informed her "is your partner a wizard, am I right?"

"Yes... Harry Potter is definitely a wizard. A dead one, once I get my hands on him..." both healers suffocated a laugh.

"You might want to refrain yourself from dropping this news to the Witchly Week magazine at the moment, darling. Wait until you have gone through your first trimester at least... "

"Trust me, I don't think you need to worry about that..."

"And I hope we can count with your discretion regarding this as well" Hermione added in a more serious tone.

"Of course you can!" the senior healer said in an almost offended voice. "we are healers after all. We don't disclose our patients with third parties. Anyway, Miss Granger, we are going to discharge you and your friend from our care. Just avoid the sun for the next week and you should be able to fully recover without any marks on your skin."

.

Annabel and Hermione spent the rest o the day at St Mungo's with the Weasley family waiting for news about Ron's state. Annabel felt pretty much like an intruder there, especially with all the background story that Ginny and Harry had shared in the past.

"Don't be silly, Anna. Harry is like a brother to me and Ronald, which make us pretty much like Sisters in law..." Hermione told her when Annabel confessed her discomfort with the whole situation when they went to the hospital cafeteria.

"But Harry is not here..."

"Only because he knows that he is much more useful somewhere else. You don't need to feel like an intruder, you belong here." Hermione said putting some extra vegetables on Annabel's plate. "And you need to eat more. You barely touched your food..."

"I don't feel like eating much. Can you really blame me?" Annabel said defensively.

"No... but you should try making an effort. If not for you, do it for _them_..." Hermione looked from Annabel's tummy to her eyes, making Annabel feel slightly uncomfortable. She still didn't clear her plate, but she ate all her vegetables at least.

It was almost ten in the evening when the healer responsible for Ron's case came out informing then that the ritual for healing him had been completed, and now they all they had to do was wait and see if he would start to respond to the treatment. Hermione was allowed in his room, so she left Annabel alone with the rest of the Weasley family for a very uncomfortable hour. When she came back, she informed Annabel that she was going to be taking her home, as she thought that Harry was unlikely to go back to the hospital at that time.

Hermione led the way through the muggle London and Annabel was surprised that the witch had taken her on a muggle black cab instead of just apparating them to ally near Harry's flat. It was only then that she realised that she still had no idea which area of London Harry's flat was located, and that was a great chance for her to find out where it really was. She could barely believe her eyes when the driver dropped them a few meters away from one of the most iconic London's postcards.

"Are you telling me that Harry's flat has a view of the Parlament? How on Earth I did not recognise where he lives?"

"It is enchanted. You are not supposed to know where it is. You need to be told by the secret keeper."

This proved true when they entered the flat and Annabel looked through the window and wasn't able to recognise where she was anymore.

"Who is the secret keeper?"

"Ron" Hermione whispered looking at the view as well "We need to ask him to tell you Harry's address if... if he makes it..."

"_When_ he makes it," Annabel held Hermione's hand "He will get through this. He has gone through worse, you told me, right?" Bel squeezed her hand trying to send her some comfort through her gesture.

Four cups of tea and three hours later, Harry arrived looking completely exhausted. Both women stood up immediately to greet him and hear whatever news he was bringing.

"Ron is going to live..." Harry informed Hermione with a weak smile. "They are still unsure if he is going to have any side effect, but the worse is over..."

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione hugged her best friend and started crying on his shoulders. "I was so scared that he wouldn't make it..."

"Thanks to you he will. You did the right decision back there... with the bezoar"

"But Holly..."

"I will get her back..." he assured Hermione while patting her back. His eyes met with Annabel's before he added "I promise it"

"I better go back to the hospital..."

"No, Hermione, you go home and sleep. Ron is fine now. Ginny is there with him. Get some rest, you look like you need it..."

"The pot calling the kettle black..." Hermione scoffed.

"Any news from Holly?" Annabel decided to change the topic.

Harry took a deep breath before he started.

"I managed to track the scumbag who sold the illegal Porkey that Marco, Carmen and Holly used to leave the country earlier today. Neville had to hold me back so I didn't murder the bastard. Holly was unconscious when they left - probably stunned when this happened. At least now we know the Porkey destination was New York, so that is exactly where I am planning to start my search tomorrow morning..."

"I am going with you!"

"No, that is out of the question..."

"I wasn't asking for your permission..."

"Bel, you are going to be a distraction. You are not an Auror, you are not even a witch! You can't defend yourself, and no offence, but you have zero skills that can help us in this case. I will feel much better knowing that you are safe here..."

"I don't care! She is my daughter too, you know? If she is in New York, I want to be there for her!"

"Anna, you can't travel with Harry... you are going to get a Porkey, right?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded. "That settles it then, you can't go with him..."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not safe getting Porkeys when you are... _when you are in your condition_..." Hermione whispered the last part with a blush.

"Fine. I will then get the first plane..."

"I really should get going... and you really should tell Harry..."

"Tell me what?" Harry crossed his arms and started looking from one woman to the other.

Hermione and Bel exchanged an accomplice glance. Hermione quickly gathered her things and run to the door.

"Right, this is my cue to leave you in peace. Goodbye Harry, Anna... I am off..." she said and quickly left the room leaving the couple alone.

Harry frown his eyebrows after seen his friend departing so hasty before he focused his attention on his fiancee once again.

"Tell me what, Bel?"

She looked exasperated as if telling him was actually the last thing she wanted to do at that moment.

"That you seem to have quite a talent to knock me up..."

Harry's frown turned into pure shock. He brought both hands to his mouth and his eyes were open-wide.

"Are you... are you trying to tell me...? Are you...?"

"According to the healer, they are eight days old. Twins, Harry! Bloody twins! If one wasn't enough... honestly! I hated being pregnant, and I'm really not looking forward to repeating the dose with twins..."

Harry gasped in shock, unsure of how he was supposed to react. He then slowly stepped forward and started stroking her tummy. She closed her eyes trying to enjoy this moment. He kneeled down and placed a soft caring kiss where he had been previously stroking. How she had wished... craved for his touch when it was Holly... Holly.

"Harry... please don't ask me to stay here by myself while both of you are there..." she whimpered and he stood up again.

"We are still not even sure why they wanted to get our Holly. Can't you see how dangerous it might be for you to go there, especially at this state?"

"I'm going... with or without you. My father lives in Newark... my Sister is a witch, and I am sure she can help me to find my way..."

"Your Sister is an underage witch who is still completing her basic education... she won't be able to help you out. If anything, you are likely to drag her into trouble..."

"Well, if you are not going to help me, I will need to find my way there..."

"Your Sister really won't be able to help you, Bel. That is nothing you can do there to help with this investigation. That is why I must insist that you stay here, where you will be safe..."

"Not in a million years!" she grabbed her handbag and walked to the front door, but Harry was faster and locked his door with a flick from his wand. "Am I your prisoner now?"

"No... but I can't allow you to leave my house on this state..."

"Which state?" she glared at him.

"You are mad with me. And you are not thinking straight. And I get that. But storming out from here without a clear plan won't make you any good."

"I have a plan... I am going to Heathrow and catch the first flight to New York they have, that is what I am going to do..."

He looked to her determined look, wondering if there was anything he could do to make her change her mind that didn't involve bewitching her somehow. Why she had to be so unreasonable and stubborn? He sighed in defeat.

"Right, how long is a flight to New York?"

"About 8 hours..."

"Right..." he said looking at the time at a clock on the wall "I guess that if we consider the timezone differences we might just about to make the meeting with Macusa officials on time."

"Does that means we are flying together to New York...?"

"I can't keep you here, can I? So yes, I'm flying with you, but we will need to move fast..." Harry waved his hand messing his hair to alleviate his stress.

"Great! Let me get my laptop and I will book our flights..."

"Bel, just please... please, promise that you will listen to me when we are there? If I tell you that I need you to be out of the way in a safe house somewhere, will you please, just listen to me? I don't want to leave you here by yourself at this state. I fear you might end up doing something stupid. The last thing I need is to put you at risk as well." he went and hugged her in a very tight embrace "I can't lose you too. I mean, the three of you..."

Annabel nodded and hugged him back. They could feel this journey would be tricky, but at least now they had each other to ease their pain.


	29. Ana and Mia

Harry stopped for a moment to observe the deep sleeping muggle woman who had stolen his heart. They were side by side at the business class of a direct flight from a commercial airline. This was the first time that Harry was flying on an aeroplane, and even though he would agree that it was a pleasant enough experience, he still prefered to fly on his broomstick. After quickly packing some of their belongs for the last-minute notice journey, Harry introduced Annabel to the knight bus, which soon became her least favourite way of magic transportation. It was only when they were doing their check-in, that Harry realized that muggles required a document called passport to travel to different countries - not that this stopped him to travel anyway, he was a wizard after all.

When dinner was served inside the aircraft that evening, Annabel refused to eat, claiming that she wasn't feeling hungry. What she did instead was turning her seat into a small single bed, and fall asleep almost instantly. Harry was also feeling very tired, but he didn't want to sleep. He downed a generous dose of Wideye potion along with his dinner and arranged a set of runes to work as a privacy spell around his and Annabel's cubicle. Even though runes weren't his strongest suit, he didn't want to risk interfering with the muggle technology of the aeroplane by casting spells. He wanted to read the copy of the testimonials given by the members of the Weasley family that had gone to the rescue during the fire. He also wanted to examine the memory that Hermione had provided from the attack. Later when he was packing for the journey, Harry found that his best friend had left on his office a tiny vial with the memory along with a book about pregnancies and the first year of life of a human infant.

Harry couldn't stop the weak smile to enlight his face when he remembered that he was going to be a father again. He always had wanted to have a big family, like the Weasleys, and this time he was going to be there for them. He then remembered that Annabel wasn't very thrilled with the perspective of facing a twin pregnancy, and he vowed to have a serious talk with her about that whenever they had a little bit of time.

After double-checking the wards to ensure that no muggle would be prying on his business, Harry placed his Pensieve on the table he had previously used to eat his dinner and dropped the contents of Hermione's memory inside it. Harry allowed the foggy from the Pensieve to engulf him, and soon he saw himself inside Alicia's drawing-room once again. He felt a pang on his chest when he saw Holly sitting down on Geoffrey's lap while the muggle read her one of her favourite bed-time stories. It was no longer a feeling of jealous, but the realisation that neither of them was able to do that for her now. He decided to carry on feeling even more determined to find any clue that could have scaped Hermione's sharpy mind. When he was watching the memory for the second time something called his attention: Holly was talking about the fire before there was any sign that a fire was going to happen. Harry then removed one of Holly's drawing from one of his pockets, one that Holly had gifted to him before she learned that she was his daughter, and he remembered that she had said something else.

_"This is me, this is Mummy, and this is you, and this is Agnes, and this is Isis. And that is Lola up there, she is a star... and Kreacher is another star..."_

She had drawn Kreacher as dead, even though Kreacher was well alive at that time. She drew her cat before Harry even consider taking her to buy a magical pet. She even knew how the kneazle she was going to have had been named. It was like Holly knew what was going to happen before things actually happened.

"I think our daughter is a seer..." he concluded to himself, looking at a sleeping Annabel once he was seating back to the comfortable leader chair from his business class seat. Despite having taking Divination as an optional class at Hogwarts, Harry didn't know many things about true seers. He knew that Sibila Trewlany occasionally did some prophecies that end up being true, but somehow Harry believed that Holly's powers worked in a very different way. He wasn't sure if this fact had any relevance for the case, but it was certainly a lead worth investigating.

* * *

Holly woke up in a double bed covered by the finest Egyptian cotton duvet sheets. Her clothes had been changed to a victorian white nightdress and she could see no sign of her muggle trainers anywhere in that unfamiliar bedroom. At least she spotted her glasses on the bedside table. She immediately stood up and looked through the large windows. She had no idea where she was, only that her kneazle was supposed to be there with her as well - unfortunately, there was no sign of Isis anywhere in the room, which worried her. That wouldn't be the first time that one of Holly's visions would have been wrong, but the young girl knew that they tended to be quite accurate.

What Holly didn't know, is that her foreknowledge gift was something unusual even for witches and wizards. She also failed to understand the majority of her visions. The four-year-old girl genuinely believed that everyone was able to see glimpses of the future now and then if they really tried.

Before she used to only have visions during her dreams, and half of the time about people she didn't even know. However, in the past couple of weeks, she was starting to be able to do it when she was awake as well. Holly closed her eyes again and tried to focus to see if any vision of her leaving that place would come to her mind, but the only vision that came was one that she already had before: she following Isis outside the Rizzottoni manor. Only that the kneazle was nowhere to be found. She sighed in frustration and decided to try her luck and leave the house by herself.

She opened the door of the room she was staying and slowly started walking on the large corridors with high ceiling, ornated with pillars covered in gold. Even though she had seen versions of her future with her Mum and Harry, she started to doubt it for the first time and wonder if she would ever get to see them again. The corridor ended in a large staircase, and she could hear voices having a heated argument downstairs.

"I think we should just grab the brat and Obliviate her..." Carmen suggested without thinking twice "Remove all the memories she has of her family. That is the easier way to insert our values on her. She will then have no trouble to sacrifice herself. Most witches and wizards would agree that this is her duty, after all..."

"Non-mi piace this idea! You will cause brain damage to mia nipote!" the old Dom Rizzottoni dismissed Carmen with a hand-waving and cigar smoking.

"It is certainly a dangerous move to erase so many things from anyone memories, Carmen. Especially if you don't want to give them brain damage. We could perhaps erase Potter from her head, as he is quite new to her life, but her entire childhood? No way. We need her sane. The bride needs to accept her fate on her own accord." Marco helped himself to some more wine.

"Yes, because I really can see the Potter spaw with a dirty muggle deciding that she wants to exchange muggle lives for magical ones..." the red-haired witch glared at him.

"La prima cosa we need to do is ensure la bambina is who the profezia claims she is..." Dom Rizzottoni said seriously "mia nipote could just be mia nipote, not la Papessa..."

"We could use her even if she isn't! Persephone doesn't need to necessarily be a High Priestess... obviously, it would be good if she was..." Carmen tried to make a point.

"Using another won't change our fates. Just remember when Grindelwald offered that girl last century, nothing happened. The King of the underworld won't settle for a lesser Queen, you know that. I think it is sensible to test her first, Padrino. Ensure that she really is who we believe she is. And if we confirm her identity, maybe we could consider adding extra memories to her, instead of erasing all the previous ones she has..."

"What do you mean, Bonanno?"

"We could give her reasons to dislike muggles... reasons to not want anything to do with Potter or her family ever again. To make it safer, we should add them slowly. One new memory per day perhaps, so her mind is not overwhelmed with the changes. Maybe we should seak the opinion of a specialist in mind magic..."

Holly who was still hiding felt her heart sink. She didn't fully understand what they wanted to do with her, but she felt it was bad. It was then that she felt the tight grasp of a house-elf holding her hand and apparating her back to the same room she had previously woken up. The house-elf looked very angry with her.

"Young Mistress cannot leave the room unescorted!" the small female elf informed her before she magically locked her door before she left Holly by herself again.

Holly was about to start crying when she noticed her kneazle Isis was waiting for her on the bed. After that, the young witch smiled from ear to ear. She knew that she was going to go back home with her mother and Harry very soon.

* * *

Annabel woke up when breakfast was about to be served by the cabin crew. She looked at Harry who was completely absorbed by reading various scrolls and writing notes in a small notebook. She reached his hand to give it a small squeeze to inform him that she was also awake. He looked at her and gave her a weak smile as he started to put the parchment away.

"Did you have a nice sleep?"

"As good as we could hope for, considering the circumstances. I'm guessing you didn't have any sleep?"

"No, I didn't. One of the perks of being a wizard..."

"I thought it was vampires who did not need to sleep..."

"Wrong assumption. Vampires do sleep, though they don't do it as frequently as humans. Ghosts, on the other hand, don't have the same lucky..."

"Never sleeping again through the whole eternity sounds awful. Poor ghosts..."

"Yes, Nick used to complain to me that he missed some of these human things, like eating and sleeping..."

Harry started to remove the runes he had placed around their seats, as he wanted the muggle flight attendant to be able to find their seats as she was serving breakfast and he was certainly feeling hungry after been working through the night. When it was their turn to be served, Harry quickly chose the full-English breakfast option, but Annabel decided that she would be fine with just an orange juice.

"Bel, you need to eat proper food!"

"Come on, Harry! I'm honestly not feeling hungry. The past twenty-four hours have been a nightmare... please, give me a break?"

He ended up deciding not to push her on this issue, but he was truly concerned by her behaviour. He hoped her appetite would return soon because he really did not need to add another complication to his long list of current concerns.

It did not take long for the plane to land, and soon they saw themselves inside a muggle taxi that was taking them to the Woolworth Building which was located at the heart of Manhattan and was where the Magical Congress of the United States of America was based. They spend most of the journey in silence, Annabel had an airy of nostalgy in her eyes as she looked at the big skyscrapers through the windows of their taxi. That was the first time that Harry was in the United States, and he could not help but feel like everything seemed to be a little bit too big - the buildings, the streets, the cars... all were enormous in comparison to London - to everywhere in he had been in Europe actually.

"The first flat I lived in NY city wasn't too far from here..." she said as they crossed Brooklyn Bridge. "I was only sixteen... it feels like a lifetime ago..."

Harry sensed her emotions and stroked her hand trying to convey some comfort to her.

"How I wish I was able to come here with you when you invited me after... you know..." Harry said thinking about the time they had their first time in Private Drive. Very often he had wondered what would have happened if he had decided to drop the Horcrux hunt to join her there.

"Well, that time I was living in Greenwich Village with Geoffrey... which reminds me, do you know how well he is doing?"

"I visited him very briefly last night after I checked on Ron. His case is still very delicate. Because he has been under the Imperio for such a long time for a muggle, his mind is very unstable. He might never fully recover. I'm sorry, Bel..." he quickly added when he saw the worry and guilt on her face.

The driver informed them of their arrival on their destination and Annabel quickly grabbed some dollar bills and paid him the taxi fare plus a generous tip. Harry quickly checked the time on his wrist-watch and was glad to see that they were not too late for the meeting yet. Kingsley, Gawain and a small group of British Aurors were likely to just have arrived at Macusa, and he and Annabel would soon be joining them there. Harry held her hand and walked to the building that he knew it was where the Magical Congress of the United States of America was located. He went straightway to the doorman on the left, who was wearing a very discrete hat with the symbol of Macusa.

"I'm Auror Potter, from England..."

The doorman just nodded his head in acknowledgement and opened the side door inviting Harry and Annabel to come inside. Harry was holding Annabel's hand in a tight grip while they climbed up the golden staircase. Annabel was speechless. She had entered that very same building before and she knew very well that it was nothing like that when you used the ordinary muggle entrance. Harry was also taking in the building of the American version of the Ministry of Magic, not surprised that it looked enormously huge like the rest of NY city had appeared to him so far. He then spotted what looked like an information desk and went there to seak information about where his meeting was supposed to be taking place. The lady on the desk directed them to the lifts and told him to request to go to the Major Investigation Department. Annabel followed him, trying to absorb all the magical things around her. She had already been to the British Ministry of Magic, to Hogwarts and Hogsmead, but every new place in the wizarding world always seemed to leave her speechless.

"Harry! I got your message this morning" Kingsley greeted Harry as soon he saw the young Auror arriving at the room "I was fearing you wouldn't be able to make it"

Harry nodded a greeting to the British Prime Minister and gave a little wave to his other colleagues who were also in the room. Harry was very glad to see that Neville was one of the Aurors among the small British company.

"Annabel couldn't bear to be left behind, so I decided it was best going against the protocol and bring her along with me..." Harry said looking extremely apologetic to the British Minister, who only then seemed to notice the young woman who was still holding Harry's hand. Kingsley twisted his lips with concern, but he ended up deciding not saying anything.

"So this is the famous Harry Potter, Mr Shacklebolt?" A white-haired woman asked approaching them with a curious expression on her face.

"Harry, let me introduce you to Helena Graves, Madam President of Magical Congress of the United States of America. Madam President, this is indeed the famous Harry Potter, who is also one of our best Aurors..."

"It is an honour to meet you Madam President,"

"Believe me, the honour is mine. And who is this lovely lady that are accompanying you, Mr Potter?"

"Oh, this is Annabel Morelli, my fiancee and Holly's mother..."

"Isn't she supposed to be a non-Maj? At least that is what I read in the files we received yesterday..." a squared glasses wizard questioned Harry with an accusation tone.

"Annabel is a muggle if that is what you are asking me..." Harry frowned his eyebrow not having liked the tone that the wizard had used to describe Annabel.

"You brought a non-Maj to a private meeting _inside Macusa_!" President Graves looked affronted.

"Annabel is Holly's mother. Everything we are going to discuss here is of her highest interest..." Harry said defensive.

"Even so, she should not be here..."

"And why is that?" Annabel opened her mouth for the first time since she entered inside that building.

"Mr Potter, do you know anything about the non-Maj and wizards relationships in America?" the same squared glasses wizard asked him, ignoring Annabel's question.

"I thought that Rappaport's Law had been extinguished decades ago..." Kingsley tried to employ some diplomacy.

"It still a serious federal crime bringing a non-Maj to this building without an express authorization given by the President of Magical Congress..." the squared glasses wizard informed them.

"How lucky for me that you are here then, Madam President. I hope that is okay with you that I brought my fiance and Holly's mother to this building..." Harry said in a polite, but still defiant tone.

President Helena Graves looked from the British Minister to Mr Potter and then to her Auror team. In the end, she sighed in resignation.

"Mr Quahog, please ensure that a special authorization is issued for Ms Morelli before they leave this room. Mr Potter, I hope you are aware that if your non-Maj brings _any_ risk to the International Statute of Secrecy, I will personally account you responsible..." Madam President said the last bit looking from Kingsley to Harry.

"Great, now that we are done with the niceties, can we please start this meeting? We have a hell lot to go over..." Gawain Roberts interrupted calling them over.

The meeting started with the American Aurors briefly describing what clues they had found in their investigation at the area where the illegal Porkey had landed.

"_There were signs that at least three Thestrals had been near the location where the _Porkey_ landed. These beasts are not native from America, meaning that they can only have been placed there by somebody else that knew they would be arriving at that exact location by _Porkey_.._."

However, despite having searched the sky and the nearby area, the Macusa Aurors failed to find any clue of the whereabouts of the Thestrals or Holly. For all they knew, they could already be in another state or even at another country. After that, both parties started sharing the information they had collected about the two dead kidnappers, the ex-Macusa-Auror Marco and the socialite Carmen.

"I think we have firm grounds to start believing this might be a joint effort mission between some powerful criminous gangs around the world. The big question here is what exactly they are working towards, and how this involves your daughter, Mr Potter..."

"Yesterday night I found a particular link that might provide some insight for this case. After analysing the family tree of that Muggleborn wizard who was forced to commit suicide at Annabel's house, I found the most interesting connection: Did you know he was related to the Rizzottoni family? He is from a long-forgotten squib branch. Would you like to know an even more interesting fact? Ms Morelli, he was your second cousin once removed through your father's side of the family!"

"This is insane!" Annabel gasped in shock.

"Is it? Well, your younger sister is a witch, did you know that? It is funny how sometimes these things end up skipping a couple of generations... but they eventually catch up..."

"What do we know about this Rizzottoni family?" Harry asked.

"It is a dying pureblood family who has its origin in Southern Italy. They claim to have had some very famous ancestors from Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece..."

"Do they have any tradition of seers in their family?" Harry's question made lots of heads to turn on his direction. "I mean... I'm only asking this because... I have strong reasons to believe that my daughter might be a seer. She seems to know things that are going to happen before they happen, like... I was analysing Hermione's memory of the day that Holly was kidnapped and... Holly knew the fire would happen even before there was any sign that it would start..."

"Harry, true seers are quite rare. Prophets are much more common though. Grindelwald was the last true seer that we have on record, I think..."

"Rare or not, I believe she might be one." Harry got the drawing Holly made for him weeks before and showed to the other Aurors "she gave me this drawing before yesterday... she said that Kreacher, my house-elf was a star, like her dog that had died. Kreacher died yesterday when they kidnapped her. I'm not sure how she knew this would happen, only that she seemed to know things. I confess I don't really know much about prophets or seers, though. I still need to educate myself on this..."

"Do you think they might be wanting the girl because she is a seer instead of the fact she is related to Mr Potter?" Madam President asked the opnion of one of her Aurors.

"Well, everything is possible, isn't? The possibilities are endless. They might want to use her for an experimental dark ritual, to try to see if they can bring You-know-who back. Isn't Garcia's known for selling body parts on the black market? Maybe some rich lunatic is paying top Dragots price just to eat her heart and steal her strength..."

After hearing the American Auror listing some of the horrible things that the kidnappers could be doing to Holly at that very moment, Annabel threw up on the table, making all the Aurors and government officials look very awkward from Harry to her. The Macusa president stood up, got her wand and cleaned the mess with a simple wave.

"Get out here, Mr Potter, and take your non-Maj with you!"

"Madam President, I'm sure..."

"She should not be here! This is no place for an ordinary citizen, especially a Can't-Spell..."

"But..."

"Please, Mr Potter. I don't like to repeat myself..."

Harry sighed in frustration, but he stood-up nonetheless and helped Annabel out of her seat. When he was about to leave the room, an American official gave him two cards, one wand-permit for him to carry, and a special-permit for Annabel to be allowed inside magical buildings at the United States of America. He quickly thanked the man before Neville also reached him and gave him a card containing the details of the hotel where the Aurors would be staying, and promised to inform him later if anything new came up from this meeting.

Annabel however, was feeling quite relieved to leave that meeting, as she was struggling to follow their discussions, and she didn't like how some of these wizards seemed to ignore her. She couldn't wait to leave the building and get some fresh air into her lungs. Harry, on the other hand, was feeling very frustrated. It was like that was the most important case of his entire life - even more important than hunting down Voldemort Horcruxes - and he was been forbidden to help out.

He knew that President Graves had a point. Annabel should be in England, been looked after by Hermione or the Weasleys. But she was way too stubborn to stay there, and he didn't want to risk having her putting herself in unnecessary danger. After all, if the reason they had kidnapped Holly was something to do with her blood ties with him, Annabel was carrying two other Potters inside her womb at the moment. Hell, he didn't even want to risk breaking this news to the other Aurors yet, as he feared that she might be targeted if somehow this information leaked.

Once they were outside the Woolworth Building, Harry looked at her and noticed she was white as paper. She was really not feeling well, and he had a good idea of why that was the case. He dragged her to the first muggle cafe that he could spot, grabbed two menus and sat down with her.

"Harry, I don't really want..."

"Please, choose something..."

"I'm not hungry..."

"I don't care, you need to eat something!"

"But..."

"No buts! You are going to order something on your own accord right now, or I swear I will use my magic and force you to do it. I'm sure you and Hermione didn't eat anything at home apart from _tea _at my flat last night! I know that because we still had the exact same amount of food we had at home before our little getaway. You didn't eat dinner at the aeroplane, you only had a juice for breakfast - which has just left your stomach by the way. So yeah, despite what you are saying, I'm sure you must be feeling hungry! The only thing I'm not sure is why you are denying that to yourself..."

"Harry, please..." she tried to hide her face with her hands in embarrassment "my relationship with food is... complicated. I don't really wanna talk about it..."

"What about no more secrets? What about better communication? Do you want this to work out or not?"

He stared at her making her feeling suddenly very vulnerable. She never had to go to war against a Dark Lord, but she had to fight her own different kind of daemons throughout the years. Was she ready to let him see this side of her? No way. Did she have much of a choice on the matter? Not really.

"Are you ready to order?" the smiling waitress arrived at their table with her notepad and pen ready on her hands.

"So Anna... how would you like to do this?" Harry asked giving her a meaningful look. He hated treating to bewitch her, but he really felt like his patience was reaching its limits.

"Can I please have the traditional pancakes with bacon and berries?" Annabel said after barely looking to the menu.

"Of course you can, anything to drink?"

"Hmmm... do you have decaf coffee?"

"We certainly do..."

"In that case, can I please have an americano?"

"Make it two, please" Harry quickly added smiling at Annabel and handing both menus back to the waitress. "So... you were saying that your relationship with food is complicated, right? Do you want to start talking about it now, or you rather wait until we finish eating?"

"I guess we can start talking about it now..." she said as she started playing with the sugar sachets on their table, as she prefered to look at anything instead of having to face Harry in the eyes. "I'm not sure if you know that... if you know that I have struggled with some eating disorders in the past..."

Harry was taken back. No, he did not know about that.

"It started all very health-focused, I guess... I weighed myself constantly because you know... I had to keep my physics because of the dance. We had nutrition classes at school as well, so I was always really good at getting the right percentage of each food group in my diet. Every Time I gained a few grams I used to quickly go on a diet for one or two days, and it used to be enough to go back to my ideal weight for my height and body shape..."

No, he never knew about her obsession with her weight.

"The issue really started during my pregnancy. The thing is... I didn't know I was pregnant, you know? It took me three months to realise that. The only thing I noticed was that I was obviously gaining weight, but then... I thought that was because I was eating way too much food. Harry, you feel so much hungry when you are pregnant! You have no idea! But then, I also felt very sick sometimes. I remember feeling so happy every time I had an episode of sickness... all I could think about was that all these calories that were no longer inside my body..."

"Bel..." Harry whispered placing his hands over hers, even though she was still busy destroying the supply of sugar sachets of the cafe. She felt the comfort from his touch, but she didn't dare to look at him, as she felt she wouldn't be able to carry on if she did.

"It was then that I started the cycle of binge-purge, also known as bulimia. I would eat an insane amount of food and vomit straightway. It was very easy for me to vomit at that time. Any strong smell did the trick. But I was still gaining lots of weight, so after my birthday I decided to follow a diet I heard from a friend who had anorexia... which turned out to be a very bad idea, as it made me pass out during one of my lessons. I had to go to the hospital, and only then I found out that Holly existed..."

And he wasn't there for her. Harry felt like someone had punched him in the stomach.

"I was in total shock when I found out. I could never imagine that was possible. We only did it once, and I was on the pill. I was so scared of having to go through a pregnancy on my own! Geoffrey almost convinced me to have a termination..."

Harry squeezed her hand really hard when he heard that. He shouldn't have left her. He should have carried her with him, Horcrux hunting and everything...

"What made you change your mind?"

"I wasn't sure if I would have ever see you again... you told me there was a chance you wouldn't come back. But now, I had a tiny piece of you, growing inside me... and I... I just needed to have her. I needed to have her in my arms, and hug her... you have no idea how happy I was when I realised she had your eyes. How I feared I would never see your eyes again, Harry..."

He couldn't help but lift her chin, give her peaky on her lips and touch his forehead with hers.

"I love you, too!"

She started to cry, and the waitress arrived leaving their two coffees on the table. Annabel had some of her drink to calm herself down before she felt she was stable enough to carry on with her story.

"My pregnancy with Holly was really punctuated by bulimia. I would binge... and then I would purge... and then I would decide to go on a strict healthy diet and that would make me binge and then purge again. After Holly was born, the bulimia disappeared for a little bit... I was very happy, and I knew that you had won the war, so I was really looking forward seeing you again..."

"But I never came back..." Harry was holding his coffee cup so tightly that he wouldn't be surprised if it exploded.

"No, you didn't. When I... when I realised you would not come back... when you gave me back my aunt's jewellery... the pain I felt was beyond grief, Harry. The pain was so absurdly strong... I just wanted it to stop... I couldn't bare carry on feeling it. First I stopped eating completely. I wanted the feeling of hunger to beat my emotional pain... just so I could feel something else that was not grief..."

"I'm _so_ sorry Bel... I also went for a period of grief when I believed you had decided to forget me and move on with Geoffrey, but I don't think it was anything as serious as this..."

"I was admitted to the hospital, Harry. During the three months following that episode, I couldn't cope with anything. My depression and anorexia were just too strong. Geoffrey was a real hero there for me and Holly... you have no idea. Until that time Holly had been exclusively breastfeeding, and she refused the bottle unless it had my own milk on it. But when the doctors had to start to give me heavy drugs to see if my depression would get better, I wasn't able to feed her anymore. She lost weight, she would not sleep for more than one hour straight; poor Geoffrey would stay with her twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and would bring her to see me every day in the hospital... because only when she was on my lap that she managed to get some proper sleep..."

Harry felt sick and helpless hearing her telling him that, but he knew he needed to hear it. He needed to know her story, the same way she had needed to hear his. He also found brand new respect for Geoffrey. He did look after Annabel and Holly while Harry had been the main cause of their suffering.

"They didn't let you keep Holly with you in the hospital...?"

"No, I was still having some suicidal episodes, and the doctors feared I could harm her..."

"Bel..."

"I never thought about harming her, though. But I was unstable, so yeah, you can't really blame them for wanting to keep her way. After trying lots of different medicines, doing daily therapy with the psychologist, doing all sorts of alternative treatments they had, I was allowed to go back home. Soon after that, I started my company that kept me busy enough. Doing therapy made me realised that even if you and I haven't worked out, it didn't mean I should live my life mourning a relationship that never really happened. It was then that I decided to give a chance to Geoffrey, and... well... I never really felt for him what I feel for you, but... he was a good father for Holly and a good husband for me. And that was sufficient. That was enough. Well, at least it was until we meet up again that day at the museum..."

"Two pancakes with bacon and berries!" the waitress arrived dropping their plates in front of them. "Enjoy!"

"Bel... I am speechless." Harry said while he observed her slowly pouring some syrup on her pancakes, and then slowly getting her knife and fork and cut some pancakes and bacon. She then slowly brought it to her mount and started eating it. It looked like she was really having to make an effort to do these simple actions. And now that he was aware of her past struggles with her previous eating disorders, he knew her effort was probably real.

"Are you not going to eat your own food or not, Potter? After making me go through all this drama I can't believe you won't even touch your plate!" she asked him with a playful smile.

"I will... I was just observing you and wondering how is it possible for me to love you even more now than I did ten minutes ago... "

It was her turn to bring him closer and give him a peak on his lips.

"I think that I was probably having a little relapse. You know... after everything that happened with Holly... and then finding out about the twins... it was just too much for me to take in!"

"Talking about the twins... you didn't seem very happy with the news. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Can you really blame me for not been thrilled with the news, Harry? After all the nightmare emotional role-coaster I had during Holly's pregnancy?"

"This time is going to be very different. I'm here with you. I'm not on the run. And I'm not going to let you relapse again... I love you away too much for that, right?"

"Right..." she said eating another bite from her plate "So... the twins... do you think it is too early to start thinking about names?"

"Probably. How about knife and fork? salt and pepper? tea and biscuit?"

"Pepper Potter does have a ring to it... but I think we should probably aim for more ordinary names... like, I don't know... Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, perhaps?"

"I thought their surname was going to be Potter?"

"Harry, it was a joke! Luke and Leia, the Star War twins...?" she tried but he failed to get the reference "You are so uncultured!"

"Oi, was it a muggle reference? Okay, how about Bertie and Botts? Did you get it? Bertie and Botts every flavour beans? Who is the uncultured now?"

She rolled her eyes, and he gave her one of his ice-berg melting smiles. Sharing these things had not been easy for her, but she was glad that she had done it. It felt like for the first time there were no walls between them. All the secrets and half-truths were finally gone, and they hoped that it would remain this way forever.


	30. Chapter 30

Holly was walking from one side of the room to the other wondering why her cat-Kneazle was not taking her out of the room like it had done during her vision. Instead of helping her to escape, the Kneazle was seating down on the bed, watching her pacing as if it was following a very boring tennis match. During her vision, Holly was lying down in her bed looking bored at the ceiling when the cat arrived and started inviting her to follow her out of the room. Well, she wasn't lying on her bed when the cat appeared, but there wasn't much of a difference, right? Well, at least that was what Holly thought.

There was a brief moment where the Kneazle's tale went up in a sign of her been alert. Holly frowned her eyebrows wondering what the cat had noticed that she didn't. The Kneazle immediately went hiding behind the old purple curtains, leaving Holly with a puzzled expression on her face. Few seconds after that, the same female house-elf that she had met earlier on, arrived bringing a tray with food with her.

"Here, little Missy. Trinx wasn't sure what Missy liked to eat, so Trinx made a bit of everything..."

Only then Holly realised how hungry she as feeling. But she didn't want to comply and do everything they wanted her to do without a fight.

"Where am I? I want my Mum and my Dad..." she whimpered.

"Trinx is not allowed to bring your Mum and Dad here, Missy... but Trinx can tell you that you are at the Rizzottoni Manor. Trinx needs to make little Missy eat something... Trinx can make something else if Missy Holly wants it..."

The female-elf was being very nice and reminded Holly of Kreacher. Holly felt a pain in her chest when she thought about the old house-elf that she had seen dying yesterday. Holly suddenly felt very scared and unsafe.  
"Trinx, can you take me home? Can you take me home to my Mum and Dad, please...?" Holly whimpered once more.

The house-elf started to hit herself with the bedside table lamp.

"Trinx... Trinx... are... NOT... allowed... little Missy... wants to go home... but... NOT... allowed" Holly looked at the elf-behaviour shocked.

Kreacher certainly had his little quirks, but she never had witnessed Kreacher doing something like that.

What happened next took Holly completely out of guard - A chandelier felt from the ceiling and hit the house-elf Trinx knocking her down to unconsciousness. That was certainly something that Holly had not foreseen coming. The young girl poked the house-elf and noticed that she was still breathing despite been knocked out.

"Meow..." Isis tried to call her attention. Holly noticed that the cat was still holding a chain that was connected to the chandelier with her tail.

"Isis! Did you do that?" Holly asked in completely baffled.

"Meow..." The cat left the chain fall on the floor and ran to the semi-open door before she looked back to Holly.

"This is not how I saw it, but... you want me to follow you, right?"

"Meow..." the cat impatiently started to walk in circles.

Holly decided that it was best for her to follow her quickly and they left the room together. The way where Isis decided to take her was very different from the way that Holly had walked previously. Somehow the kneazle seemed to be very familiar with the building layout, and more than once Holly saw herself going through secret passaged through walls. She had no idea how the cat had managed that, but they were not spotted by any of the inhabitants of the house.

Soon, Holly saw herself inside what looked like a horse stable, but instead of horses, everything she could find was three spooky creatures that made her shiver. The girl stopped unsure by the stable door, scared to approach the scary animals. Isis, on the other hand, went to the biggest of the creatures and started to work her way to untie the lugubrious looking beast with her mount and claws. When Isis was finished, she gave a very annoyed glare to Holly who was still waiting by the stable door.

"Meow..." the cat started to walk in circles once again in annoyance.

The giant beast sat down, making it almost possible for Holly to climb it.

"Do you want me to hide on this...?" Holly asked in complete shock. "No! You need to take me to the bus stop. I'm sure there is one! I saw you taking me there..."

"MEOW!" the kneazle looked like she was losing her patience.

"All right, all right! I will climb this... thing..." Holly said and she started to slowly approach the beast, who looked at her with deep interest.

Holly spotted a small ladder, and brought it near to the Thestral that was lying down, and climbed it gathering all the courage she had. Isis jumped to her lap, making it harder for Holly to remain stable. Holly thought that the horse-beast would start to walk, but the animal didn't seem to want to go anywhere.

"Meow...?" Isis turned to her and gave her a softer meowing this time. Holly thought that it meant she was supposed to do something.

"Er... Mr scary horse? Can you take me to my Mum and Dad, please?" she asked feeling helpless, sure that it would not work. But for her surprise it did. Soon the Thestral left the stable and started trotting, and then running and then opening its wings, which scared Holly to bits, as she had not realised that this creature was also able to fly.

She decided to tighten her grip on the beast and on Isis while she murmured to herself. "It will be all right... it is just like hiding a broom with Dad... just like hiding a broom with Dad..."

* * *

"Harry, what you are doing now is bullying! You just saw how much I ate! I even put syrup on the pancakes! I swear I am full!" Annabel looked at Harry with annoyance.

After they finished their pancakes Harry had decided to order an enormous ice-cream Sunday and was trying to feed her like a baby with one of the two spoons.

"Come on, just have a try... this is really good!" he laughed, loving to see how annoyed she was.

"No! I'm already too full, right?" she felt even more annoyed to see that he was really enjoying annoying her.

"Please, just a little spoon, please? Please?" he said giving her the ice-melting smile that she loved so much.

"You are impossible," she said taking the spoonful with her mount "you can be such a prat sometimes!" she said trying to look mad at him, but her eyes were already smiling.

"I'm not going to deny. I just ordered this to see how you would react..."

"Really? How old are you, five?" she said rowling her eyes "You know what? I had an idea... I have something here that you might like to see..."

"What is it?"

"Just a second and I will show you... let me get my laptop" she said getting the machine from inside her huge handbag.

Harry looked at her feeling intrigued while he watched her open the muggle device and go over her saved files. It did not take long until she found what she was looking for, so she turned the computer screen to him, who gasped as he saw the picture that was been displayed. It was a picture of Annabel while she was pregnant professionally taken.

"Bel... this is... wow!"

"It is on a slide show mood, so if you press enter it will show you another picture..." she said as she pressed the 'enter' button, that changed the current image for a black and white picture of her in the middle of a field.

"Geoffrey took them. There is at least one picture from each city we stopped when we were on the run..." she pressed enter again and another picture of her laying down while she held two tinny baby shoes in front of her tummy. "I was sure there were wizards on our trail, you know?"

"You are right. They were Macusa Aurors, policeman wizards like me, trying to offer you protection after what happened to your family... I remember reading a record of that after the war. But they thought you were both been safe enough after a couple of weeks following you around, so they decided to leave you. Unfortunately, there was nothing on there about your pregnancy..."

"Oh, if I only knew they were trying to protect us! I thought it was your enemies who were after us!"

"I think that the Death Eaters believed that you were your cousin Jess..." Harry said pressing the enter to reveal another picture of Annabel with a bikini fully showing her pregnant tummy. "I might hate Geoffrey, but man, I can't deny that he knows how to take good pictures. Not that it should be any hard, with you as a model..."

"Wait until you get to the main event then..." she said with sparkles in her eyes.

Harry carried on looking picture by picture, wondering what she meant by that when suddenly there was a picture with a super tinny Holly laying on Annabel's breasts.

"Bel... this is..." Harry placed both his hands on his face, and for a second she was sure he was going to start crying. In fact, he was barely managing holding on.

"I forgot what a tinny thing she was..." she was looking nostalgic at the picture.

Harry's fingers were touching the computer screen. Then he slowly pressed enter again and saw another picture of a newborn Holly laying down on top of an adult pillow wearing nothing but a pink bow on her head. After what seemed an eternity, he pressed to the next picture, that was Annabel laying down with Holly.

Harry was looking at the pictures feeling a wave of bittersweet emotions. He was very grateful that he was able to see these little captured moments of them, but he also felt guilty and sad that he wasn't there sharing these moments with them. In addition, there was the aggravation that Holly was now missing, and he could feel that even Annabel was feeling mixed feelings by looking at their daughter's baby pictures.

They were looking at the pictures of when Holly was starting to walk when the noisy of a woman screaming took Harry and Annabel out of their trance. Harry got his wand ready and looked for the source of the noise. The cafe waitress that had served them had dropped a tray full of food on the floor while she screamed on her full lungs while she pointed at the cafe windows.

Harry and Annabel, among with the other clients from the cafe, immediately turned to look to the place she was pointing. While all the other costumers did not seem to realise what she was seeing, both Annabel and Harry were able to see the dark dragon-like faced horse beast that was stretching its wings. Annabel placed her own hands on her mount to suffocate her own scream, and Harry started to get ready for action, grasping his hands so strongly on Annabel's one, that woman was sure it was going to bruise later.

"Ha-harry... Wha-what is going on?" Annabel mumbled.

"Thestrals. The beasts that Holly's kidnapers seemed to have used after they arrived here..." Harry said as he waved his wand around casting spells to all the exists of the cafe.

"Oh..." Annabel exclaimed hugging his arm feeling even more scared than she already was.

The muggles in the cafe that couldn't see the beast, but could see Harry's magic display, felt suddenly very scared of him.

"Everyone, just stay calm on your seats, I mean you no warm..." he said already thinking about the scolding he was going to receive from the American president for his shameless spell casting display in front of these muggles.

However, Harry thought that his actions had been extremely justified. He was concerned that whoever was leading that Thestral could only be there for Annabel. Although he had to admit, that taking a fully grown Threstal in the middle of the busy Manhattan would be an extremely poorly planned attack, as it was bound to call Macusa's full-attention.

No to mention that Macusa's building was only a few blocks away from where they currently were.

Harry wanted to go outside the cafe to investigate it, but he didn't feel like he should leave Annabel unprotected inside the cafe. He had blocked the cafe exits for anyone who wasn't an Auror from the British Ministry, but he couldn't be sure if there wasn't someone already inside who was working for that gang. Polijuicy, Imperio just to name a few ways they could have managed to infiltrate themselves there. Bel could be left vulnerable if he left her alone there, but at the same time, he felt like taking her with him could also be leading her to further danger.

It was only when he saw an ambulance crashing on a building nearby, that he realised that he had no choice but to go and do something about it. After all, muggles that had witnessed death were able to see Thestrals and they were in a highly-populated area.

"Bel, we need to go out there and see what that Thestral is doing here. Don't let go my arm, if there is something fishy about it, or if someone attacks us, we are going to be apparating straightway..."

"But I thought it wasn't safe..."

"If there is a real emergency, we will take our chances..."

Harry walked in front of her, one of his hands grasping her tightly and the other ready to fight with his wand up. They left the cafe and what they saw next made both their hearts stop beating. A small brunette girl with bright red glasses, wearing what looked like a very old-fashion white nighty, looking extremely scared.

"MUMMY! DAD!" Holly shouted as she saw them. She was still mounting the beast as she couldn't dismount the Thestral without help.

Annabel started running, but Harry held her forcing her to stay back, as half of his mind thought that it could only be a trick or a trap. The other half of him wanted to join Annabel and run to rescue their little girl as well. That was the first time he heard her calling him Dad, which made him feel very emotional, but also a bit wary. Harry then realised that a small crowd of Muggles were forming around Holly. Some were filming her and others were taking pictures, and they didn't look scared of the Thestral. Only then he realised that for the Muggles who couldn't see the Thestral, they were also witnessing a four-year-old floating in the air. "_Yeah, _Macusa_ is going to have a hell of a _day," he thought.

He got his wrist-watch on his eye level and called Kingsley, as he clearly would need help to deal with all that mess.

"I need urgent backup..." Harry said as soon the Minister's face appeared on his watch.

"Macusa's threat-radar is on emergency, I'm assuming that is you, then?" the Minister asked concerned.

"It's actually Holly on a Thestral..." Harry turned his wrist-watch so the Minister would have a clear view of what was going on. However, it was President Graves who answered him.

"We will be there straight-way"

"See you soon, Harry," the Minister hang up the call, and Annabel managed to get away from his grasp and was running her way in the crowd to get to Holly.

"Bel, stop! This could be a trap!" Harry shouted.

But Annabel didn't pay him any attention as she made her away through the crowd. In a couple of seconds, Holly was jumping from the dragon-faced horse and straight to her lap. Both mother and daughter were crying and hugging each other as if there would be no tomorrow. Harry appeared next to them so quickly that Annabel would later swear he had apparated. He approached them, really wanting to join the hug, but unsure of how Holly was going to react. But soon the young girl decided it for him by jumping from her mother to his lap. This made his heart fill with warmth as he started to let his guard down, considering that perhaps that could maybe be a miracle and not a trap after all. Annabel joined the hug and they remained like this until both British and Macusa Aurors arrived at the scene to contain the damaged caused by that big magical exposure.

"Potter! Aren't you able to stop hugging your family for one bloody second and use a Disillusionment Charm on that beast, for Merlin's sake!?" Gawain Roberts shouted angrily at him.

However, Neville seemed to be already doing that before Harry could think about moving.

"Harry, your family needs you. Take them away from here. Let us sort out this mess..." Neville whispered to his friend, who nodded in acknowledgement Harry then grabbed both Annabel and Holly and guided them out of the way of the Aurors. He stopped by another big junction and got his family inside the first yellow taxi that stopped for them.


	31. The firstborn of our most beloved hero

Harry asked the taxi driver to take them back to the Woolworth building, where Macusa was located. However, when he saw the unusual commotion of witches and wizards in front of the skyscraper, he decided that perhaps that wouldn't be the best or the safest place to be taking his family at that exact moment. Harry then got the card with the details of the hotel that the British Aurors should be staying later on and gave the directions to the driver. The hotel turned out to be in another huge building somewhere in between the Central Park and Times Square. It had a hidden magical entrance that Harry was only able to spot it so quickly because he was following the instructions on the back of the card.

Annabel was very reluctant on following him to the magical entrance of the building, and he knew exactly why that was being the case. After all, this was how muggle repellent spells tended to work. Nonetheless, he carried Holly on his lap while holding Annabel very tightly by her wrists, both as prevention in case they needed to apparate in an emergency and also to ensure that Annabel would not run away, as she was trying to do.

"I have bad feelings about this place..." Annabel whined as she started to shiver.

"It's the muggle repellent spells... you will be all right once we are inside..." he said as he discretely pointed his wand to the hidden purple door that immediately opened welcoming them in.

The posh hotel lobby was almost empty when they arrived. The hotel manager, a tinny witch that was smaller than Professor Flitwick, instantly noticed that Annabel was a no-maj due to her odd behaviour as she stepped inside the hotel. Luckily the authorization given by Macusa was enough to make her to begrudgingly accept Annabel's presence on their establishment. However, once she checked his wand permit and finally realized who Harry actually was, they were quickly given one of the best suits the hotel had. Harry was most-certainly sure it was unlikely to be the ones that had been previously booked by his team. If the circumstances were any different, he would probably have argued to be given an ordinary room previously booked instead, but as he was feeling emotionally drained and quite glad to be able to provide some level of comfort to his family he accepted gratefully.

Harry was still carrying Holly on his arms and holding Annabel's hand when they were guided to the hotel lift by the hotel porter who took them to their room. Harry was feeling very on the edge as if he was expecting another attack to erupt at any moment. When they finally got to their room, Harry hastily grabbed some Dragots coins from inside his pocket and gave them to the porter dismissing him as quickly as possible. He then got his wand out and started scouting the room, searching for possible traps or security breaches. Annabel sat on the sofa with Holly hugging her Kneazle very tightly, while Harry kept himself busy by blocking the room's private fireplace and placing warding spells on the remainings of the room.

"Mummy, I'm hungry..."

"Harry, do they have room service here?"

"Of course! Just wait one second and I will help you to order something..." he said before he whispered some protective spells to the large glass windows that surrounded the room. They had an astonishing view of the city from where they were.

When Harry was satisfied enough with the safety of their room, he turned back to Holly and crotched down until he was on the girl's eye level.

"Holly, I am going to order you some food in a minute, but before that I need to cast some quick spells on you, just to make sure you haven't been bewitched... is that ok?"

The girl who was feeling too tired and hungry to give him a proper answer just nodded her head in agreement. Harry immediately casted a strong _Finite Incantatem_ on her, followed by a _Revelio _and some others that had similar effect. Nothing happened. He then casted some diagnostic spells that were usually performed by healers. He knew enough healing magic to be considered a first aider in case of an emergency, as this was part of his Auror training. Holly's body seemed to be functioning perfectly well, apart from the hunger she already told them she was feeling. There were no signs of bruises, cuts, marks or any sign of physical abuse on her body. No visible traces of memory tampering, nor any other type of mind magic. He also checked signs to see if she had been hit by the Cruciatus or the Imperius curses. She seemed to be completely intact. Harry took a deep breath in relief.

"Right... what would you like to eat, Holly?"

"Can I have some porridge, please?"

"I'm sure they will be able to help us with that. Now, Bel, Holly... I blocked this room from House-elves apparition, so I will need to leave the room for a minute to make this request..."

"Are you going to leave us here?" Bel seemed scared by that perspective.

"I will be just outside the room... and I'm confident that my warding work is strong enough to protect both of you, but we can leave our room door open if you prefer..."

"Yes please, if you don't mind..." Annabel requested as she curled up to Holly wrapping her tightly around her body. She hasn't let the girl's side since they arrived in their room.

"Sure. I will be back in a moment..." he said opening the door and requesting to House-elf to serve him as he was in the hotel hallway.

In a few seconds, the House-elf appeared and left, and then after less than two minutes he was back bringing what Harry had requested in posh silver cloche serving dish and a small cat bowl. Harry quickly thanked the house-elf and went back to his room where both his two girls had been observing him.

"Here we go, Holly, your porridge. Shall we all seat at the table?" Harry said as he placed the cat bowl on the floor and Holly's plate on a dinner table they had on the room.

As Holly ate her late breakfast, both Harry and Annabel were seating on opposite sides of her. Despite that, both parents silently held hands behind the young girl's back, and they exchanged warm glances as they observed their precious little girl eating her food.

"Mum, Dad... where are we?"

Harry couldn't help but smile after hearing Holly calling him Dad once more.

"We are in a hotel in New York City..."

"Mummy, Nonno, Aunty Emmy and Lucca live near here, don't they?"

"Yes, they do live near here Hollyhoops... do you remember when we came here last year during the summer holidays?"

The young girl nodded, and then she added.

"Are we going to see them?"

Harry and Annabel exchanged a glance before she answered her question.

"Well, it would be nice, wouldn't, Harry? Be able to visit my family. I rarely see them and... as we are here anyway..." Bel added as subtle request to him.

"It would be nice, I agree. But... there are things we would need to consider..." Harry said giving Bel a meaningful look "Holly's safety remains our priority. Who is Nonno anyway?"

"Nonno is my Dad, Harry. It means Grandad in Italian. The Lucca she is talking about is not my father, he is my six-year-old brother." Annabel told Harry with a touch of sarcasm in her voice, and Harry's jaw dropped in shock "Yes, I know, right? And probably there will be more soon, as the last time I've heard, Dad was going out with a new girlfriend who is, by the way, a couple of years younger than me..."

"I love Lucca, he is very funny!" Holly told Harry who was still surprised by this new piece of information about her family.

"Your Father is quite a figure..."

"You can say he is a jerk, right? I stopped idealizing him quite a long time ago..."

"What is a jerk?" Holly asked as she finished her porridge.

"I'm sorry Holly, I shouldn't have said that..." Annabel brought a free hand to her forehead in a sign of distress.

"Holly, now that you finish eating, do you think you can tell me and let me see what happened when you were taken away from Alicia's house?" Harry asked his daughter as he set his self-writing quill and some parchment on the table. He thought it was better to record it officially just in case. Annabel noticed that 'Harry, the Auror', not 'Harry the Dad' was taken over the scene, and she decided it was better to try to step down and let him lead this conversation with their daughter.

Holly nodded in agreement.

"Isis attacked the bad man when he was a cat, then Kreacher tried to get Isis back but the bad woman killed him with a spell..."

"Are you saying that the bad man was a cat?" Harry asked her, wondering if what Holly meant was that Alicia's cat was actually an Animagus.

"Yes! He was the cat that Isis attacked! I tried to make my other Dad leave the house because I knew he was going to get hurt really bad..."

"You knew? How did you know that Holly?" even though he already had his strong suspicions, Harry wanted to hear what she was going to say about it.

"I saw it happening before..."

"How?"

"In my head..."

"Are you telling me that you saw a fire on Alicia's house before you even got there...?"

"Uhum..." she nodded her head in agreement.

"I see... do you usually foresee things in your head before they happen?"

"Uhum... you see it too, right?" Holly innocently asked him.

"Oh no, Holly... I've never had such a gift..."

"No?" Holly asked him completely shocked "But why not!? You have magic too, don't you?" she asked feeling a little bit confused. "Can Mummy see it then?"

"No, your Mummy is a Muggle, we talked about this before, didn't we? Some people have magic and other people don't..."

"But... but... you if you are magic and you can't see what is going to happen, doesn't it mean that this is not magic?" Holly frowned feeling extremely lost.

"You know how Teddy has the power of modifying his body parts at will, but not every witch and wizard can do that? The same way, some very few witches and wizards also have the power to see the future. It seems like you might be one of them..."

"What is the future?" Holly asked with a frown.

Harry waved his wand to the table making a new set of parchment, quill and ink to appear from thin air. He then drew a line and divided it into three equal parts and wrote 'past', 'present' and 'future'.

"So, this is the past. The past is everything that has already happened, such as... when you were born... when your Mum and I first met years before you were born... or when the dinosaurs were alive. The past is all the things that already happened, no matter if it was this morning or hundreds of years ago." as he said these things, he was making very basic drawings where the word past was writing to illustrate what he was saying. Holly was paying so much attention that she wasn't even blinking.

"Now, this is the present. The present is everything that is happening right now, at this very moment. At the present we are all seating together at this dinner table; right now, you, me and your Mummy are in New York City..."

"And the future is what I see... what is going to happen..." Holly concluded feeling a bit overwhelmed.

"Yes, Holly. I think that the future is what you see. For example, one thing that I'm sure it is bound to happen in a very near future is that I'm going to finally marry your mother..." Harry said this deeply looking at Annabel's eyes. She smiled back at him, biting the corner of her lips.

"Like... in the future when James and Sirius will be born...?" Holly concluded.

Harry raised his eyebrows in shock with Holly saying these names, as he was sure he had never told to her about them.

"Sirius and James...?" Annabel asked after noticing how shocked Harry was with the mention of these two names.

"They were my Godfather's and my Father's names..." Harry whispered.

"Oh..." Annabel suddenly understood "I'm guessing this means that their names have been decided?" Annabel asked pointing to her own tummy with a smug look on her face.

"We don't need to decide this right now..." Harry said reaching one of her hands and stroked it tenderly.

"I like the names... they feel... right," Bel said and Harry gave a gentle squeeze on her hand that he was still holding.

There was no way he was going to be sharing the parchment that the self-writing quill was still recording with any of his colleagues now. This conversation had moved way beyond collecting evidence for the case. It contained some very personal moments of his family. Nonetheless, he wanted to carry on asking questions about his daughter's kidnap. His detective mind would not be able to restrain itself from doing that regardless.

"Do you remember what happened after Hermione was unconscious, Holly?"

"The bad man asked me to go with them... but I was scared because Kreacher had died and... I wasn't sure if Isis was alive..."

"What had happened with Isis?"

"The cat man... he attacked her. I knew that Isis was the one who was going to help me to escape from that room..."

"Are you telling me that you foresaw your escape BEFORE you were even kidnapped, Holly?"

"Yeah..."

Annabel gasped and Harry ran his free hand through his hair in frustration.

"Holly... you need... no, you MUST... you must let me know if you have ANY vision ok? Especially one like that. This is very very important, do you understand?"

The little girl nodded feeling like she had just been caught after doing something naughty.

"But... nobody listens to me! Nobody listens when I tell them that things are going to happen..."

"Holly, we did not know that you could see the future, but now we do. I promise that from now on we are going to listen and pay attention to everything you have to say about the future..."

The girl nodded.

"Dad... what was that scary horse creature that brought me to you and Mummy?"

"That is a Thestral... they are very intelligent creatures and are very skilled in helping witches and wizards to find their desired destinations," Harry said conveniently forgetting to mention that only those who saw death were able to see them. He felt very bad that his four-year-old little girl was now able to see the Thestrals, despite they had aided her escape.

"I thought they were scary, but Isis really wanted me to ride it... when I had my vision, I scaped on a bus, not on a scary horse..."

"Really? That is interesting..." Harry said making a little mark on the parchment where the self-writing quill was still recording their conversation. "Holly, I know that you had one of your memories copied before, do you remember? At Kingsley office?"

"Uhum..." she nodded.

"Well, would you mind if I do the same thing now? It is going to be a little bit more complicated because I want all the memories you have since you were kidnapped..."

"That is fine... I want to help you Dad..."

"Right. Let me explain to you what you will need to do..."

* * *

Many hours had passed since Harry collected Holly's memories, however, he was still to seen them. Even though Harry felt like he wanted to see the memories before the British Aurors arrive at the hotel, he felt like it was an unnecessary risk to take, to leave Holly and Bel without him to guard them. That is the only reason why he decided to wait for the other Aurors to come back from the chaos they would certainly be dealing with when helping the American Aurors to clear the chaos caused by that Thestral.

While he patiently waited, Harry started to teach Holly and Annabel the basis of chess. They had lunch, and before they could blink they were having dinner. Soon Holly was too tired to carry on playing and Harry and Bel were tucking her in one of the two bedrooms they had inside their luxurious hotel room. Harry hoped that it wouldn't be too long for one of his colleagues from the Ministry to arrive, as he could feel that the effects of the Wideye Potion were going to be wearing off in a couple of hours. It was only then, that a small delegation of wizards knocked on their room. Harry immediately got his wand ready as he walked to the door that led to the hotel hallway and asked a question without opening the door.

"Who is it?"

"It is just us, Harry..." Harry heard the voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt answering, but he would never lay down his guard so easily. Not after everything that had happened during the past few weeks at least.

"What did you tell me when you invited me to be an Auror?"

"I told you that I knew I was asking more than it was reasonable from someone who had just faced everything you had, but despite we had won the battle, the war was still not over..."

Harry opened the door straightway after hearing the Minister words. Annabel who had been hiding inside Holly's bedroom noticed Harry's change of behaviour and allowed herself to enter the living room of their hotel room as well.

Half a dozen wizards and one witch that Harry identified as his work colleagues entered the room. They all looked exhausted. Neville approached Annabel and handed her laptop and handbag to her.

"Thank you, Neville, I completely forgot I left these at the cafe..."

"You welcome... we have erased so many memories today, you wouldn't believe... I don't remember seeing such a breach on the Statute of Secrecy like that since the war..."

"And tracking the muggles who saw something and erasing their memories was the easy part... there were quite a handful of muggles who recorded a video of the Thestral..." one of the Aurors added.

"Did you have time to find out how your daughter ended up riding a Thestral?" Gawain Robards asked.

"Yes... her pet Kneazle thought it was a good way for her to find her way home. I'm sorry about all the trouble this has caused, but I am glad that she is here now..."

"Did you extract her memories and record any transcript of anything she had to say about it?" Gawain asked again.

"I've recorded some transcripts, but I'm rather not sharing these with the Ministry, as we ended up saying some very personal things about my family on it. I can perhaps share an edited version, but I am not sure if you will want that. I've extracted her memories, but I prefer to exam them first before I decide to share it with the team if that is ok with you..."

"Harry, we know she is your daughter, but you know that holding up evidence like this is counter-productive for the case..."

"I'm very aware of that, but... I will probably decide to share it, but I prefer to see it first..."

"Harry, please, just allow me to go and see them with you?" Kingsley asked giving a gentle tap on his shoulders "not as the Minister of Magic, but as a personal family friend? You know we can't be sure of what you are going to find out when seeing them, and that is why I would strongly advise you to take someone that you trust to see these memories with you. I promise I won't make you disclose what we see if that is what you decide to do..."

Harry thought for a moment and then he ended up nodding in agreement. His Pensieve was already set on the dinner table, so he approached it making a sign for the Minister to follow him. Soon they were both engulfed by the Pensieve, leaving Annabel and Holly on the care of the other Aurors. Harry and Kingsley saw everything from the moment that Holly had woken up at the Rizzotoni Manor up to the moment of her escape with the help of both the Kneazle and the Thestral. And that included the morbid talk that the three outlaws had about Holly. That left Harry feeling justifiably terrified for his little girl. Throughout his entire childhood he had been target by people who wanted to see him dead, but somehow watching his own daughter being the one they wanted to harm was one million times worse. He saw himself wishing that he, not Holly was the one they were after. When Harry and the Minister emerged from the Pensive, all the Aurors along with Bel looked at them expectantly. Kingsley looked extremely concerned and Harry looked visibly paled as he intentionally tried to avoid his fiance's glare.

"Did you find anything concerning?" Gawain's voice erupted breaking the silence.

The Minister signed with his hand, asking for him to take it easy and guided Harry, who still looked like he was in shock to the empty bedroom. This whole commotion left Annabel feeling very distressed wanting to join them, but Neville gently held her back by the shoulders and offered to brew her some chamomile tea. The Minister locked the door and placed some privacy spells in place.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that, Harry..." Kingsley said giving him a gentle tap on the shoulders. "You know, there is a reason why we usually don't allow Aurors to work on cases involving people very close to them..."

Harry felt like he was barely holding up, so he decided to take a couple of deep breaths before he felt good enough to answer the Minister.

"No, I'm rather being aware of all the details involving Holly's case, even if they were..."

"At least now we know they were after Holly due to something completely unrelated to you. And we are closer than we were before knowing the reason behind this kidnapping. We will obviously need to research to find out exactly what they meant about her 'being the bride', 'Persephone', 'High Priestess'..."

"They mentioned a prophecy, Kingsley. What were the odds that my daughter would also be a victim of this? I don't even know what that prophecy says, but I already hate it."

"Know your enemy, Harry. Like it or not, we need to find out what it says..."

Harry took a deep breath trying to calm himself down, but he was finding it extremely difficult.

"I don't want to see her going through this... no... I cannot accept that!"

"Maybe there is a way to stop them. We had a good view of the place they were hiding... maybe we can still track them down with Macusa's help..."

"Then we must ask for their help now. I'm just not sure if I want to share all the other details with the team, Kingsley. You saw how they managed to infiltrate Alicia inside our team..."

"There is some evidence that Alicia was under the Imperio..."

"Even so... that just shows us how easy they got one of our Aurors under their control. How can I be sure that she was the only one they were controlling? I don't really want to risk they finding out that we have some idea on why they are after her. It didn't look like they notice Holly overhearing their talk... I rather keep it that way, as it feels like for the first time we might be ahead in the game for once."

"If these are your wishes, Harry, then I feel obliged to comply. Holly is your daughter after all. I don't think it is the right decision, as I am sure that having the whole team researching these things would only make things to speed up, which might be important for the case. We should then go back to Macusa and share what we can about this gang with them straightway. I advice you to ask President Graves to check if there is any register of a Prophecy made here at the United States..."

"I will ask her, Kingsley, thank you for the tip. Also, thank you for taking my wishes into consideration even though you disagree with me."

After that, Kingsley removed the privacy spell from the room and they went back to the living room to sort out who was going to stay on the guard duty and who was going to go back to Macusa's office with Harry and the Minister.

All the Aurors seemed to have realised that whatever Harry had seen on his Pensieve was not something that was going to be broadcasted in an Auror's meeting any time soon. They seemed to be tactful about it and did not bring it up. Harry decided to do what he usually have done in situations like that before. He just put on a brave face and wore it like an armour. Annabel seemed to be the only one who wanted to ask him about what he had seen in the Pensieve. Harry quickly dismissed her with the promise that he would tell her all about it later, but right now he had to go on this meeting with Macusa's President if they wanted to increase their chances to capture Holly's kidnappers.

Macusa's officials were already expecting them when they arrived, and if anything they seemed to be disappointed that Harry didn't bring his daughter along with them. They certainly did not take lightly when Harry informed them that he wasn't going to be sharing the full content of Holly's memories, but only parts of it.

"My daughter is not even five-years-old yet. She should not be forced to testify!"

"We should be the judges of that..." claimed a senior Auror from Macusa. "What are you afraid of, Mr Potter? Did she intentionally do anything that could incriminate her?"

Harry felt his blood boiling, but it was the British Prime Minister who answered the question.

"I can vouch for Mr and Miss Potter that is certainly not the case. I saw the memories. Holly is a victim, not the culprit. The only reason why Harry doesn't want to share it is that he feels like it Holly will be safer if fewer people learn about the content of these memories."

"Madam President, would you mind if we have a quick word in private?" Harry dared to ask. President Graves nodded and signed for Harry to follow her to a small office near to where the Aurors were having their meeting.

"You and your daughter have made quite the appearance here, Mr Potter. It has been almost eighty years since we had such a huge breach on the Statute of Secrecy, and for a moment I really believed that we were going to be exposed..."

"I'm very sorry for the trouble that the Thestral have caused, Madam President. Though I must say, I am very happy that it rescued my Holly. What are you going to do with the beast, if you don't mind me asking?"

"The Thestral is going to be put down first thing tomorrow..."

"Please, allow me to keep it! Let me take it back to Britain. I own Holly's life to that creature as far as I know..."

"So it is about the beast destiny that you wanted to talk about...?" she said ina mixture of disappointment and annoyance.

"No, I..." Harry ran his hand through his hair, making it even messier. "Holly witnessed the criminals talking about a prophecy involving her..."

"A prophecy?" she raised her eyebrow in surprise.

"Yes. I don't really want to share this with the others until I can hear the full content of this prophecy they were talking about. I was hoping that you could check if you have a copy of it here?"

"Of course. Wait a second and I will ask someone to verify this..."

She left Harry alone in the small room and went to whisper something to the same Auror that had been very accusing of Holly earlier on. He whispered something back and left the room immediately, only to return a few minutes later carrying a heavy book with him. They exchanged a couple of words before President Graves returned to the room where Harry had been patiently waiting.

"There is a register of a Prophecy made about Holly around five years ago..." she said pointing to a line in the book for Harry to read it.

It had golden letters engraved in such neat calligraphy that was clearly drawn by enchanted quills. The person that the prophecy was about was "The firstborn of our most beloved hero", a title that had been later crossed out to say, Holly Potter, which was then also crossed out to say, Holly Morelli.

"Can I retrieve the Prophecy?"

"The answer for that would usually be yes, but apparently the prophecy already has been extracted..."

"By who?"

"By someone who claimed to be her legal magical guardian, obviously. Although we unfortunately don't have registered here who this person was..." she said with a disapproving frown.

"Who made the Prophecy?"

"A witch called Cassandra Priam..." she said as she read that name from the book.

"Who is she?"

"I have no idea... only that the book states she is from Oregon."

"I am going to track her down..."

"We are going to track her down, Mr Potter. You have no license to investigate things around here, and I believe you already have more than enough on your plate. You go back to England and keep your family safe. Leave the details of Ms Priam to us. I promise I will personally write you a letter whenever we have an update on her whereabouts."

"Er... right. There is one last request that I would like to make..."

"You are making quite a lot of these..."

"Can I take my fiance and Holly to visit their relative who still studying at Ilvermorny before we go back to England?"

"You will need to write to the Headmistress Finch to arrange that. As I already authorized your non-Maj to enter magical buildings you shouldn't have any problem..."

"Can I take her muggle father and brother there as well?"

"No. Definitely not. I am already being extremely beyond generous in allowing passage to your fiance inside magical buildings. Know that very few non-Majs have this privilege around here, Mr Potter. Do you need me to authorize a Porkey for you and your family to go back home...?"

"Thank you very much Madam Present, but Bel is with child... we should avoid taking Porkeys."

"Well, in that case... please allow me to lend you a carriage. You may take that Thestral with you, although... I am not sure if keeping a creature that had previously served the kidnappers of your daughter is a good idea..."

"Thank you for your concern Madam President, I will bear that in mind..."

After that, they returned to the main meeting where the Aurors were discussing the best strategies to invade the Rizzotoni Manor the following morning. Harry who was starting to feel very tired as the Wideye Potion was wearing off, quickly excused himself to go back to his hotel room.

Harry was surprised to find that Annabel had been waiting for him, even though it was extremely late. Neville and two of his colleagues had stayed with her, also greeted him when he entered his room's living room. Harry informed them that the Aurors were currently discussing a strategy to invade the Rizzotoni Manor the next day. He also informed them that he would not be taking part in that operation, as he and his family would be going back home around the same time.

"I will ask permission for Gawain, but I think I would like to go with you, Harry. I think it will be nice to have more than one Auror with you and your family, just in case..." Neville said.

"That will be nice, thank you Neville. I would offer to stay on guard duty tonight, but I've already taken Wideye Potion last night, so..."

"Don't worry, mate. Just go and have some sleep. We take care of the rest..."

Harry then waved goodnight to his colleagues and grabbed Annabel's hand and they entered the main bedroom where they would be sleeping that night. As soon they were inside Harry began to untie his tie and to remove his Auror's robes. Bel sat on the corner of the bed as she watched him to casually undress in front of her. She already had a shower and was wearing light robes with a nightgown underneath it. She bit her lip at the sight of his muscular chest and his black boxer underwear, but she knew that she had to keep focused on the real issues she wanted to discuss.

"Harry... which things did see at Holly's memories? Why you were so... taken back after watching them? Did they do something bad to her?"

Harry stopped undressing to look at her. He knew that he was going to have to explain his behaviour to her sooner or later. He then sat down next to her while he finished removing his socks.

"No, they did not do anything bad to her. But they planned to. If she didn't have run away as quick as she did maybe we would have a completely different Holly with us, Bel. They were planning to alter her memories... to change her perception of us... if she hasn't escaped, maybe she would no longer have any recollection of me..."

"No!" Bel gasped.

"They wanted to create some false memories of her childhood, delete everything about me... I don't know what else those sick minds wanted, but I'm glad she is not there to go through that."

"Why did they want to do that?"

"I'm still unsure why exactly they believe they need her, but the things they want her for are certainly nothing good from the sounds of it..."

"We can't let them get her again..."

"We won't... Bel, I've been thinking..." he stopped for a moment, wondering how to put into words this idea he had been considering for a while ago. "How would you feel about moving out of London?"

"I don't know... I... I've always lived in big cities, I love the culture, the art and being near everything I like and where things are happening..."

"I was just thinking that maybe a bigger place in the countryside would be much easier to protect. We could have space for walking around, maybe to even fly on a broom, without having to travel to the Weasleys or to Hogwarts. I know I feel a bit of cabin fever by having to be on tiny that flat all the time, and I know you two feel the same. And every time we need to travel the chances of an attack are higher..."

"Well, if it is for Holly's safety and our family wellbeing, obviously that I will consider moving out London..."

"Maybe we should test living at your house first. Your place is much bigger than my flat, so I guess we could try living there for a while to see how well we adapt. Either that or we could move to Grimmauld place, but I think it would be a bit too Grim, especially without Kreacher around... if that is not enough, moving out to the countryside might be the best solution..."

"I guess... it is not much fun living near so many fun places if we are not even able to fully enjoy the benefits of it... I will keep that in mind Harry. And there is Geoffrey for us to take into consideration as well... I know we don't want to think about him, but my place has been his home for almost ten years now..."

"Bel, there is a real chance he won't be able to leave the hospital..."

"What?" she opened her eyes wide open in shock.

"The healers are not been very optimistic with his prognostic... his mind suffered way too much damage..."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means that...Geoffrey is... well, he is a bit... crazy. Most of the time he has incoherent speech. The other half of time he hallucinates, he believes that he is a character from a book or something. Then sometimes he is convinced that all witches and wizards are trying to kill him and his family, and then he tries to attack the healers. Let's just say it is not a good thing to witness..."

"But they are going to fix him, right? I saw how quick that lady fixed my twisted ankle..."

"Bel, even with magic, there is a limit what we can do. Geoffrey's mind was damaged due to exposure to a very powerful curse. They are trying to see if they can minimize his symptoms and make him stop talking about witches and wizards so they might be able to transfer him to a muggle mental ward. But at the moment they are not even sure if they are going to get on that stage. I'm sorry I didn't tell you these details about him before, but... with everything that was going on, Holly missing, Ron's fighting for his life and the news about the twins..."

"I know Harry, last forty-eight hours have not been easy. Poor Geoffrey, this is all my fault!"

"Please don't beat yourself over it? If anything, that was my fault. If I had gone over my pride and brought him over to my flat and had allowed him to stay there with you and Holly that would not have happened. But then... we would probably not have got together again... our boys would not..." he placed his hands over her belly "they would not be growing stronger every day... how can I regret that? I can't. You and me... Holly and the twins. I would do everything again and more to have the four of you with me..."

She then held him in a tight embrace, making their foreheads touch one another. He then started giving small kisses on her face, and she closed her eyes, her entire body craving his touch. He started kissing her neck, making low moaning noises escaping her lips.

"I'm away too tired for that..." he whispered while he stroked her breasts that were still hidden inside the silky fabric of her nightgown. The effect of the Wideye Potion had worn off completely, and he could clearly feel the full effects of being fully awake for the past 48 hours.

"I'm not wearing underwear..." she whispered slyly on his ear making him shiver. After that, he couldn't resist the temptation of verifying that information by touching her clitoris and sliding his index finger inside her. This was enough to make her moan much louder this time.

"I'm guessing that I will need to find a way to remain awake a little bit longer..." he said before he threw her on the bed. He usually wasn't very fond of quickies, he prefered to tease and build up things slowly, but that night a quickie would have to do.

* * *

Harry, Annabel, Holly and Neville left New York City just after breakfast. Harry hasn't heard back from Ilvermorny's Headmistress, but considering that he had sent his request very late at the hotel reception the previous night, it was unreasonable to expect an answer anyway. He hoped that she would be okay with him and his family showing up because he had decided that they were going to stop at Ilvemorny before going back to England. He did not tell Holly or Annabel, as he wanted to make it a surprise for them, but Neville had been discretely informed when Harry pulled him for a chat while Annabel was busy fixing Holly's hair.

"Cool, I've read they have some rare healing plats at Ilvermorny. Maybe I can convince them to donate me some seedling..."

"You are such a Herbology nerd, Neville..."

"We all have our thing, I guess. By the way, did you sleep well last night? I hope you did not take Wideye again, you know you shouldn't..."

"Why would you think that...?"

"You forgot to cast Privacy spell on your room last night... Anna was being quite loud..." Neville smirked and Harry felt like he wanted to bury his face underground. "You know, Auror Nina was very embarrassed too, you should have seen her face. She was redder than a ripe tomato..."

"Shit... this is so embarrassing. I can't believe... I've forgotten to do that!"

"Don't worry, I've casted the privacy spell as soon as we noticed it, so we really have no idea how long you too were..."

"I did not take Wideye again, all right! Merlin's beard, Neville, you are worse than Ginny..."

There was an uncomfortable silence after Harry casual mention of his ex. Harry knew that Neville and Ginny were very close friends, as together with Luna, the three of them had led the Dumbledore's Army during the chaos created by the Carrow's regime at Hogwarts. Despite that, Neville had always treated Annabel with the utmost respect, and she was indeed very fond of him.

"Have you seen Ginny recently...?" Harry decided to ask.

"Yes... I saw her at Luna's birthday drinks. She seemed to be doing good. She is very focused on her career now..."

"Oh yeah, one of the reasons why I missed that was exactly because I knew Ginny was going to be there. I thought it would be a little bit awkward if I arrived there with Bel as my date..."

"You are probably right, it would have been awkward. But Luna really missed you, and Ron and Hermione too. She was hoping to finally meet Annabel and Holly"

"You know it wouldn't be very safe..."

"Yeah, that is what I told her. But you should invite Luna over to dinner or something you know? She is your friend too, not only Ginny's"

Harry nodded in agreement, and Annabel and Holly came back.

"Darling we are ready..." Annabel holding Holly's hand.

"Right, let's get in our carriage!"

Holly and Annabel were both amazed by the sight of the flying carriage that would be taking them back home. It did not take long for them to reach their first destination, as New York wasn't very far from the Mount Greylock, where Ilvermorny was located. When the carriage stopped in front of the large metal gates, Harry knew that had to be the school entrance. Harry then left the carriage to see if he could figure out a way to open the gates when a short, grey, large-eared creature appeared pointing a big arrow to his face. The creature vaguely reminded him of a goblin, but much more wild and scarier. Harry never had encountered such a being before, and he was taken back, feeling unsure if he should remain calm and maintain a non-threatening posture or if the most sensible thing would be to reach for his wand.

"What is your business here Mr...?"

"Potter. I've sent a letter to the Headmistress last night. I'm not sure if she got a chance to read it. We are here to visit my daughter's Aunt. She is a student here..."

The grump creature grumbled and had a better look at the carriage that had brought them. Only when he saw that a child inside he lowered down his arrow.

"There is no need to scary our visitors," said a young witch who suddenly appeared and opened the school gates with a wave from her wand. "I would apologise for this harsh welcoming, but you did not give us much notice, Mr Potter..."

"Headmistress Finch...?" Harry asked, somehow surprised by how young she was.

"No, I'm her daughter, the Alchemy Professor. William, can you please be a darling and fletch Miss Morelli from her classroom? Mr Potter, would you mind parking your carriage near the entrance of the main hall? We are not very fond of leaving our gates open if we can avoid..."

"Of course..." Harry said as he hopped back on their carriage.

"If we ever wanted to know how Professor McGonnagal was during her twenties, we no longer need to wonder" Neville commented as soon the carriage started to take them through the path that led them to the school's main entrance.

"Harry, did I hear that right? Are we at Emily's magic school?" Annabel looked ecstatic."

Harry gave her a warm smile. He was glad to be able to provide this moment for them. He wouldn't deny he was also feeling a bit curious about meeting Annabel's younger Sister. Ilvermorny's castle resembled Hogwarts in many different ways. Even though Hogwarts was a little bit taller, Ilvermorny was wider. As they left the carriage which had been parked in front of a patio, they spotted some senior students wearing cranberry and blue robes, which also vaguely reminded Harry of Hogwarts plain robes, although he was glad that Hogwarts had a much more discrete colour choice when it came to their uniform. The students looked back at them full of curiosity, trying to figure out who were these people that had just arrived in a Macusa's official carriage.

Harry sighed as the whispers finally started when a few students seemed to realise who he was. They stayed in the patio for a few moments before Professor Finch came back and guided them to the main hall. Harry had no doubt that one had to be at least five times bigger than the Hogwarts dining hall. However, instead of having four big tables, it had lots of smaller tables, as Hogwarts had during the Triwizard Tournament. Professor Finch led them through the castle until they reached a teacher's private office that was completely empty, and asked them to wait there.

However, before she had the chance to leave them alone, a young blond teenage girl knocked on the door. She was out of breath, and the ends of her hair were bright pink like the feathers of her owl. Harry smiled to the sight of this young witch who looked very different from his Bel in so many ways.

"Miss Finch! I swear I had nothing to do about the flooding bathroom..."

"What flooding bathroom Miss Morelli?"

"Oh... ops..."

"You will tell me everything you know about this later... right now, you have guests..." Miss Finch said making way for the girl to enter the staff room.

"But who would... OH MY GOD! IT IS HARRY FREAKING POTTER!" she said as she noticed the wizard wearing his official Auror robes smiling at her with his arms crossed.

"Language, Miss Morelli!" her Professor gave her a severe stern that made the young teen blush.

"So, you don't see your sister and niece for more than six months and the first thing you care about looking is he?" Annabel said looking annoyed, but Harry knew she was just teasing.

"BEL? OH MY GOD! Your hair! It has grown so fast! How did you do it?"

"Have you heard about this thing called magic, little bunny? Come on, are you going to give us a hug, or what?"

Not waiting for a second invitation, Emily threw herself on her older sister's arms. Few seconds after that, Holly tried to join them by hugging their legs. The sight of this whole scene made Harry's heart melt.


	32. Calming down

"So let me see if I understood everything correctly. You guys are... back together? For real?" Emily asked as she tried to digest all the new information that Annabel and Harry had decided to share with her. This included some minor details of Holly's case along with a brief summary of their relationship from the early teenage years until recently.

Annabel nodded with a grim. Holly was seating on Harry's lap trying to play with his glasses. A clear sign that she was starting to get bored of not being the centre of the attention and being forced to listen to all that grown-up conversation that was going on.

"Yes, and we are stronger than ever. You better get ready to be my maid of honour, little bunny..."

Emily started to move her hands frenetically and jump as if she had just won the lottery.

"You are joking, right?" Annabel, Harry and Neville laughed of her over-reaction, but Annabel nodded to confirm she had indeed heard it correctly. "OH, MY GOOD! MY SISTER IS MARRYING HARRY JAMES POTTER!"

"Get over it, Emmy! For Christ sake!" Annabel said trying to look annoyed with her sister's fangirling and failing miserably.

"Your sister is right Emily. I'm your brother-in-law now. Your sister is going to be my wife, and your niece already is my daughter, which means that we are pretty much close family. I hope you can get over this before the wedding, and certainly before next Christmas. You must come to England for both of these events this year."

"And you will promise to bring Dad and Lucca with you for both occasions!" Annabel quickly added placing one hand on her stomach before she gave Harry an inquisitive glance. He considered it for a moment and then nodded in a silent agreement. "This year's Christmas certainly bound to be special, as we are going to have two new additions to the family..."

Emily looked very confused with her statement.

"Is Dad...? Are we going to have any other new siblings and I missed the family memo about it?"

"No, no! Or at least not that I am aware of. But you should be gaining two more nephews or nieces to spoil this following October or early November, or so I was told..."

Emily started flapping her hands again and giving a girly shout in excitement, making Harry and Annabel laugh. Neville's jaw dropped as he was surprised by the news.

"Harry, are you two...?" Neville asked as seeking confirmation from his friend. Harry smiled and nodded confirming it before he spoke.

"Yes, we are expecting twins. Its still very early stages, and with Bel still being officially married to Geoffrey... you can imagine the type of horrible scandal this could bring to our family if this leaks to the press. That is why I would really appreciate if this information stays here in this room. Emily, I hope we can count with your discretion for this issue?"

"Of course you can, big brother! My lips are sealed." Emily sounded static as she allowed these words to leave her mouth, making Harry smile back at her.

Overall Harry's first impression of his new sister-in-law had been positive. She was very different from his Bel, both physically and personality-wise. They seemed to have a similar smile, but that was the only physical resemblance they seemed to share. Which wasn't that surprising, considering that they were only half-sisters. Personality-wise Emily reminded him a weird mixture between Parvati Patil and Lila Brown with Luna Lovegood. She was clearly a very girly girl type of person, but she also seemed to have some sense of uniqueness and not really caring that somehow reminded him of Luna. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that half of her hair was pink, or perhaps it was her big dreamcatchers earings. He couldn't point out what exactly about her reminded him of Luna, only that something about her did.

Besides, interacting with someone that was still a teenager wasn't something that he did very often. Even though Harry knew their age gap was not very big, considering he was still in his early twenties, their life experiences were what made the biggest difference between them. Emily had an innocent carefree airy about her that he didn't recollect seeing on any of his friends or colleagues, even the younger ones like Dennis Creevey who was not much older than Emily. Harry guessed that being in a war would probably make that to people. Emily was a muggle-born when Voldemort got into power, but she lived across the pond, and the war had not affected her as much as it had affected the young people from his generation that lived at the United Kingdom. Even though Annabel was a muggle and Emily was a witch, it was clear that the war had affected his fiancee much deeper than it had affected her sister.

When Holly started to climb on his shoulders he decided that it would probably be a good idea to take her out of the room to burn some of that energy running around the Ilvermorny gardens. He was pretty sure that Neville would like that too, and the sisters would probably also appreciate a little bit of privacy.

"Right, Holly, let's go for a wander. Let's explore Ilvermorny and see how much better Hogwarts is in comparison..."

His comment made Emily snort and roll her eyes disapproving.

"Don't go Hogwashing my niece, Mr Potter!"

"Harry will do, Emily. I'm your big brother now, remember? Neville, would you like to join us? I'm sure we can ask for those seedlings you wanted..."

"Seedlings, really?" Emily sounded almost affronted "I'm here celebrating having escaped my double Herbology classes, and you guys are basically choosing to get on your knees and dirty your hands with soil and manure..."

"Hey, if you can't see the beauty of watching things grow that is your problem..." Neville commented with an amused expression on his face.

"My friend Neville here is going to be Hogwarts' next Herbology Professor, Emily..."

"Oops... sorry... I think I should pay more attention to what I say..."

"I'm not offended at all, Emily. I know that Herbology is far from being everyone's favourite subject. It is interesting to see what kind of opinions I will be facing from this September when I will join Professor Sprout as her assistant..."

"I just don't understand why do I need to learn how to look after these plants! I will probably never have them!"

"Somethings are better to have your own reserve though... as the freshness of the ingredients might impact the potion in some cases..."

"Another thing I hate doing is Potions! I rather buy them from people that are clearly skilled than wasting my time making them..."

"You might need to do it yourself at some point, that is why it is always best to learn. Not to mention that buying potions from third parties sometimes can be a bit dodgy. Believe me, I have seen some cases where this ended up very badly." Harry told her feeling amused that he was telling someone why it was important to learn how to brew potions.

"What subjects do you like, anyway?" Neville decided to ask.

"Oh, I quite enjoy Spellwork, Duelling and Transfiguration. Basically, give me anything that involves wandwork, and I will ace it!"

"Oh, nice! I never say no to friendly duel If I can help..." Harry said thinking that perhaps they had more in common than he previously thought.

"Duelling an Auror would be hard enough, but duelling Harry Potter himself? You are going to destroy me!"

"I will take it easy, ok? Maybe before we leave we both can have a friendly duel? Come on Holly, Neville, let's leave these two sisters catching up in peace..."

After that, they left the room leaving Annabel and Emily alone for the first time since they arrived at Ilvermorny. Emily quickly jumped to the seat next to her big sister.

"Anna! I can't believe you are here! And you are going to marry _him_! Do you have any idea how cool that is?"

"I think I have some idea of how famous he is now..." she said thinking about the witches that were asking to take a picture with him near the monument that was a statue of his parents holding him when he was only a toddler. "but his fame was never something in between us, you know? I'm a muggle, remember? I'm not a witch. I never really knew that he was famous before. I only found out about the extent of his fame last week when he took me to a little camping trip for Valentines' day."

"I just find it so cool how he survived the killing curse not only once, but twice! He is like a legend! Nobody else has ever survived a killing curse before! Did you know that?"

"Yes, he told me that," Annabel said thoughtfully wondering what she could share with her sister. "He told me other things though... about when he and his friends were on a camping trip when they were trying to find things that would enable them to kill Voldemort..."

"WOW, This is SO cool! There are not many registries about what they did on when they were on the run, you know?" Emily looked eager to hear more about it.

"Well, maybe you should ask him about it? As he said, he will be part of our family now. And I still can't get my head around that you are a witch!"

"I know right? It took me a while to get used to the idea that a whole wizarding community existed, and I was part of it. Mum knows, but Dad doesn't know that I am a witch. He believes that I'm attending an ordinary muggle private school. You have no idea how nice it is having you here with me! And it is even better knowing that my niece is also a witch and you will soon be married to my childhood hero!"

"I'm sure that Harry is also thrilled to have you as a sister in law, Emmy. He never had many people around that he could call family. He is so broody, you know? I think that unless I do something about it, we will end up having ten kids before we reach our thirties!"

That made Emily giggle.

"Is he really that bad!?"

"Worse than you can imagine! If there is one thing that Harry Potter can do well, is getting me pregnant!"

That made Emily giggle harder than she had done before.

"How is he... how is Harry during sex...?" Emily dumped the question without even blush. Annabel stared at her sister pondering how much she would feel comfortable to share.

"He is amazing and he knows it. Sometimes he likes it rough, in an almost BDSM sort of way. He loves to control me, but sometimes he also likes when I'm the one seducing and controlling him too. There are also some moments that he likes to make it more soft and sweet, so there is not really a clear pattern, just whatever we both are in the moody for. And I feel like we are both very in tune and we have a good synchrony when it comes to what we are in the moody for when it comes to sex..."

"Is it true he has a dragon tattoo on his shoulders?"

That question made Annabel gasp.

"Where did you get this idea?"

"I read about it in a magazine..." Emily confessed blushing for the first time since they started talking about her sister's sex life with her childhood hero.

"For the record, no he doesn't have tattoos. Though... he does have lots of weird scars in the most unusual places. Some he got during the war, and some during his work as an Auror..."

"Really? Wow! I wish I could see them!"

"Emily! He is my fiancee! It is very weird hearing you ogling him like that!" Annabel said as she started to wonder since when her innocent little sister had become that wanton woman.

"Come on Sis, haven't you learned to share? Just kidding" she quickly added as she saw the shocked look on Annabel's face "One last question, I promise! What is his favourite thing in bed?"

"I think I will keep that one to myself" Annabel answered crossing her eyes with a smug on her face.

"Aw, come on Bel! I never asked you anything..." Emily bite the corner of her lip.

"Oh, Emily... the things he does... I can't even... Emmy, you witches are so lucky! The spells he does during it... Oh my lord... I don't think I can ever live without some of them anymore..."

"Which spell did he use on you?" Emily asked her feeling unable to stop asking questions about her sisters' sex life with her childhood hero.

"I don't know... he must have used hundreds of different ones... I don't keep a track you know, but I do have my favourites..."

"Hundreds? I've only heard about two!"

"He is quite older than you, isn't he?"

"So what? I'm old enough for doing these things. Well, my boyfriend is older than yours and he didn't teach me any others..."

"_Emily_! _You are only sixteen_..." Annabel felt outraged. Witch or not, her sister was still a minor as far she was concerned. And if her little sisters' boyfriend was older than Harry, it meant that he was clearly old enough for that relationship to be considered legal.

"And in a couple of months, I will be seventeen... the same age you and Harry were when you two decided to play around and make Holly, right?"

"And if there is one thing you shouldn't aim to copy from me that is the thing! You know well enough that our Holly was not planned, Emily..."

"Chill Anna, I'm just having fun. It is not like I am going to have his babies anytime soon, so take it easy, ok?"

"You better not! You need to finish your education! Harry told me you still have one year and a half to finish your basic education here. What are you planning to do next?"

"I still not sure... even though... I always thought that it would be cool to join Macusa and become an Auror like Harry..."

"Oh dear Lord! Not you as well!"

"What is the problem of being an Auror?"

"Nothing. I just feel like most of the people I interact on a daily basis are Aurors' now..."

"It is a very cool career path for a witch..."

"I'm pretty sure there are other nicer career paths..."

There was a knock on the door followed by it being opened by the same little dark-grey creature that had pointed an arrow at Harry's face earlier on. Or maybe it was one of its cousins, Annabel could not tell. The small goblin-like creature looked at them as there was nothing he would rather do less than be on that room with them.

"I was requested to inform you that Auror Potter has left the building with his brat," he grumbled.

"WHAT?" Annabel shouted in shock. Her heart was beating fast as she wondered what might have happened. Leaving her behind was not something Harry would have done lightly.

"Is the non-Maj deaf?" the creature asked Emily.

"Mr Wonka, do you know why they had to leave? Who asked you to inform us about it?" Emily tried asking the creature who answered her with annoyance on his voice.

"Do I look like an owl to you? Bloody wizards and witches! Can't they take care of their own business?" the creature grumbled before he left leaving them alone in the room again.

"What was that?" Annabel asked pointing at the spot that the creature had been standing not long ago.

"Oh, that is just a Pukwudgie. They usually are much grumpier, but they tend to be nicer to me because I am a member of the Pukwudgie house. Shall we go and find someone who will be more willing to tell us what is going on?"

Annabel nodded and they left the room.

It did not take long until they saw Kingsley absorbed in a deep conversation with Neville and Gawain at Ilvermorny gardens. Annabel grabbed her sister's hand and guided her to the group of Aurors that she knew would be able to answer their questions about Harry and Holly's whereabouts.

"Miss Anna... Harry sends you his deepest apologies for having to leave earlier in a rush," the British Ministry of magic informed her.

"What happened? Please don't hide anything from me..." she asked feeling extremely drained. She would not be able to take another turnover of events.

"Don't worry, this was only a precautionary measure. Some of the people who we were trying to arrest during this morning's operation have managed to escape. As we knew that Harry was going to be here with you, we came straight away to warn him about it, and we all agreed that it would be best for him to move Holly to a safe house as soon as possible. You don't need to worry. He and Holly are probably already at home waiting for you to join them."

"And he left me here by myself?" she tried not to sound hurt.

"You are not by yourself Anna, we are here to escort you home, aren't we?" Neville pointed out. "There is no need for you to rush tough. We can stay here as long as you wish. It will take some time for us to get back to England anyway."

Annabel looked at them and then back to her sister. She felt a bit anxious. She knew that she would not be able to relax. She wanted to stay and spend some more time with her sister, but at the same time, she knew that now she was going to be feeling worried about Harry and Holly until she was able to see them again.

"Just go, Anna. I know that look. Just promise me that you are going to write me a letter soon, ok? And let me know when you have decided a date for the wedding..."

Annabel nodded in agreement and hugged her sister.

"Look after yourself, little bunny. And stop seeing that guy. I don't think he is good for you!"

"Sure, Mommy!" Emily said as she rolled her eyes "You take care of yourself and your family as well. And tell Harry that he didn't need to run away from our duel... I would never seriously hurt my big brother"

"Don't worry, I will let him know that you said he chickened out..."

Annabel's return journey to London went very smoothly. The long journey she spent with Neville and the two high Ministry officials, led her to discover some interesting things about Harry's past that he had never mentioned to her. They had a packed lunch in the carriage, and by the time it was dinner time they were already landing at central London. Annabel had no idea how the people around the city, muggles like herself, were unable to notice the landing of the carriage pulled by magic flying horses. It was Neville who guided her all the way to Harry's flat.

As soon as Harry opened the door, Annabel felt an immense urge to run and hug him, but Harry had his wand pointed at them, and a serious glare on his face that told her he would not think twice to attack them if he thought they meant harm to him or Holly.

"When did you tell me about your parent's condition?" Harry said pointing his wand straight at Neville who didn't even flinch. He thought for a few moments before he gave his answer.

"Trick question. I never really told you about what happened to them. You saw me visiting them with my Grandmother..."

Harry seemed to relax a little bit after hearing his answer, but then he turned his wand to her instead.

"Where did we have sex for the first time?"

"Harry! I'm not going..." she blushed in shock with the bluntness of his question.

"Just answer me! Where did we have sex for the first time?" he ordered her to speak up.

"Come on Anna, just say it..." Neville said trying to give her an encouraging look.

"At your bedroom at Privet Drive. Why do you keep asking questions to people while pointing your wand at them? You are scaring the shit out me every time you do that!"

"We can never be too safe. I needed to make sure that you are really yourself, not someone trying to impersonate you. They are not going to get our Holly again, Bel. I won't let it happen..."

She walked in and embraced him on the hug she was wanting to give since he left her at Ilvermorny with her sister and his colleagues.

"Where is Holly?" she asked once she finally let go the embrace.

"Upstairs with Hermione, Andromeda and Teddy. They are teaching some phonetics to the kids."

"Oh, that is good! Holly hasn't been at school for such a long time now! I'm always worried that she is going to struggle when she has to go back to school, you know?"

"About that... we will need to talk..."

"Harry, what do you want us to do about the Threstal...?" Neville asked him.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that... I want to keep it, but I don't have space here..."

"If you want, I can take it to Hogwarts and leave it under Hagrid's care until you decide what you want to do with it. I need to take the plats I've got from Ilvermorny to Professor Sprout..."

"That sounds like a lovely idea Neville. If it is not much trouble, I would really appreciate the help."

" So... unless you need me for anything else, I guess I will leave both of you in peace..."

"Er... actually... would you mind staying here just for five minutes so I can go to the grocery shop? Those little things that Kreacher used to do for me all the time and I never really realised," he said with a heavy voice. Annabel knew that he had soft spot for that old house-elf, and even though she did not fully get the dynamic of their relationship, she knew that Harry still needed to grieve the loss of that little fellow.

"Of course mate, take your time," Neville answered as Harry patted him on the shoulders, grabbed his winter jacket and left his flat. Annabel guided Neville to the kitchen counter and turned on the kettle.

"Right Neville, so how do you like to take your tea?" she asked while she retrieved two mugs from the kitchen cupboards.

* * *

"Isn't Persephone a Greek Goddess according to muggle mythology...?" Hermione asked and Annabel nodded in agreement.

"Darling, some of these myths are believed to be true by some purebloods as well. But that is beside the point! Their assumptions seem to be ridiculous! For starts, if Holly was a High Priestess, or La Papessa as they were saying, she should have an innate strong talent for divination." Andromeda pointed out in a tone that showed that was the most ridiculous thing she ever heard. Harry and Annabel exchanged a concerned glance after Andy's statement.

Harry, Hermione, Andromeda and Annabel were seating together at the dinner table of Harry's central London flat. Harry had just shared with them the details he had to seem on the Pensieve, as somehow he felt much safer to share these confidential details with them, that were people he considered family than with his Auror's colleagues from the Department of Law Enforcement.

"She has the gift, Andy. We have no doubts about it now" Harry said shocking both witches in the room. This led to Harry telling them how he first started to suspect about Holly's seer powers and how he confirmed it when he was interrogating his daughter later on.

"Andy, can you tell us everything you know about this High Priestess or whatever they called Holly?" Harry asked Andromeda, but it was Hermione who answered him.

"I've read there is a saying that says that '_When a High Priestess witch is born she usually does great things. For worse or for better_.' I read on Hogwarts a history that Rowena Ravenclaw was believed to be one, though she never confirmed..."

"Well, she obviously would not want to attract the attention, why would she? Just see what happened to Holly just because some lunatics believed she could be the High Priestess?"

"But how do this links with Persephone? I don't know what wizards say about her tale, but as far as I remember, there is no sign of any divinatory gifts with her, or is the wizarding version different on that regard?" Hermione asked Andromeda.

"The wizarding version about the firstborns, which I believe you know as Gods, is that they were the first wizards and witches among humans. The legend says that their original magic was much more powerful than what we can do nowadays. Some others say that they shaped the rules of nature and magic all together and that some of them are still alive as they were born in a time that wizards were still immortals..."

"How comes I've never read anything about that?"

"Hermione, I find hard to believe that you would be able to find anything about that sort of tale on Hogwarts library for many reasons, including that there are not mainly written texts about these legends. They are usually passed orally within the families. Maybe at the Ministry's library, you might be able to find some registers, but surely they would try to keep such things away from muggle-borns? There is some very dark magic that some pureblood families still perform nowadays that are still linked to some of the firstborns..."

"Let me guess? Human sacrifice? Muggle sacrifice" Harry guessed and Andromeda nodded her head confirming his suspects. "Now that I think about it, I can remember reading about a case that rings me the bell to what you are describing Andy,"

"Persephone is believed to be the one responsible for the loss of the immortality among wizards and witches" Andromeda informed them, making Harry sigh.

"Please, not wizards seeking immortality again! I thought we already had crossed that bridge when we killed Voldemort!"

"I remember reading about one of the old rituals involving Persephone in one of the books of the Black family. It might still be there at Grimmauld place unless it disappeared with the clearing done by Mundungus Fletcher that you told me about..." Andromeda frowned her eyebrow on the mention of the crook wizard "but I am almost sure that the ritual I read about involved human sacrifice..."

Harry and Annabel exchanged a very concerned glance.

"They are not going to get her. I won't allow it. They tricked us once, I am not going to let them do that twice!" Harry said full of determination.

"We will carry on living a low key life Harry... we can move out London if you think it is the best solution,"

"I do think we should move out of this flat soon. Especially while Ron still in recover at St. Mungus. They could take advantage of his state to learn the location of my flat..."

"He is recovering... slowly but stead. I'm pretty sure he would never betray you willingly Harry."

"I know. I would trust you and Ron with my children's life, Hermione, you know that. I just want to trust that I have the most possible secure place. I don't want to take any chances here..."

"Do the healers have any idea when Ronald is going to be out of the hospital, Hermione?" Annabel asked.

"They said he should be out in a couple of weeks. He is copying so well, that we decided to maintain the original date of our wedding. He is going to fully recover, but it will take some time. He is not going to be able to go back to the Auror's office anytime soon though..."

"Because of the paralysis?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded.

"Ron is coping quite well with it. I've never seen him taking anything as serious as he is taking his magic physiotherapy. He was so relieved when I told him that Holly was found, you have no idea, Harry! He was feeling very bad for what happened that day..."

"I really need to go over there to see him..." Harry said.

"You definitely should go there sometime soon, Harry. It will be good for both of you..."

"I will go as soon as things here have settled down a bit more."

"I agree with Hermione, Harry. You should go, he is your best friends! And please send him our love, Hermione. We never blamed him or you for what happened! As Harry said, we would leave our Holly under your care anytime..." Annabel gave her a warm smile. "and on regarding your wedding, remember me to show you some of the ideas I have got for it..."

"Talking about weddings, Harry, Anna, when are you both thinking about throwing the biggest news that every reader of Witch Weekly would like to know? Any ideas when is your wedding going to happen?"

"I guess that all the wizarding gossip magazines' are going to have to accept the fact that we are bound to have a very small and private wedding..." Annabel said wondering what her Sister, which was likely to be a reader of such magazines would think about it.

"About that... Harry, Anna..." Hermione bit her lip unsure how to approach the issue she wanted to discuss "I saw the state that Geoffrey is and... I know that both of you want to get the divorce done as quickly as possible due to..." she stopped for a moment considering what would be more appropriate for her to say considering she was unsure if Andromeda was aware of the twins. "Well, I know you want to get married as soon as possible. That's why I've been doing some research on how Anna can request the divorce considering Geoffrey's current circumstances of lacking the mental capacity for making decisions."

"I completely forgot about that!" Harry said socked with his own lack of consideration.

"Yes, Harry, you know that his chances to recover his mental capacity are very slim at the moment. This is obviously going to impact their divorce, as it won't be a straight forward process. Considering that Geoffrey won't recover anytime soon, if you initiate the divorce process tomorrow, the earliest you would be getting married is around August or July..."

"NO! I'm going to be huge!" Annabel said feeling suddenly very panicky. Harry just brought her near to him and kissed her forehead.

"Shhh... you are going to be very pretty!" he said stroking her tummy as he calmed her down. Andromeda gave them a suspicious look, but if she thought anything about the strange way the couple was acting, she decided to keep that to herself.

"You will need to name someone to be his litigation friend. It can either be someone from his family or one of his friends. I believe that if you have someone that knows about the existence of the wizarding world might be helpful to speed things up a little bit,"

"The only person I can think of that knows about the wizarding world and used to be friends with Geoffrey would be Dudley"

"I don't think it would be appropriate, Bel. Dudley is my cousin and considering that we are... wouldn't be better for us to ask your other friend, Matt? He is Geoffrey's cousin, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is. But he is not aware of the wizarding world as far as I am concerned."

"But he is Dudley's partner, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is..."

"Then I believe we might be able to tell him? Considering his connection to Dudley, and also that he is probably the only next kin that Geoffrey has...? What do you think Hermione?"

"Well, it sounds like a good candidate for being Geoffrey's litigation friend. You definitely should contact them as soon as possible, as you will need him on board when you submit your application..."

"Seeing them again would be nice. It has been ages since I've been with my best friends..."

"Then don't take too long to arrange this catching up. It is getting late..." Hermione said checking the time at Harry's clock "I better go and have a shower before I can set my camp here on your couch" Hermione said as she stood up from the dinner table.

"Are you sleeping here?" Annabel asked with confusion. It wasn't that late, and even if it was, she knew that Hermione could just apparate to her own house in less than a minute.

"Yes, Hermione and Andy are doing this favour for us. When Kreacher was around, I was happy about being the only wizard here to protect both of you. But since he is no longer... well, I decided to ask them to help me tonight. I'm not sure what we should do for the long term..."

Hermione bit her lip as she considered what she was about to say.

"There are two orphan house-elves that appeared at the end of last year at the Ministry. I have been making them attend the lessons of my new programme for Education of house-elf welfare and rights seminar's, but they are really struggling to adapt with our new policy and..." she took a deep breath as she considered what she was doing "well, I thought that the least I can do is to ensure they go to a nice family that is going to obey the guidelines and give them nice working conditions even though they are reluctant to accept that..."

"Are you asking me to adopt them?"

"I think it might be a good idea, for both of your sakes. There is a long waiting list of Wizarding families that are willing to adopt a house-elf, even after we made the reforms around the adoption process. However, considering who you are and your current circumstances, I am sure I can move you to the top of the priority list. It is not as if this has never been done before at the Ministry anyway,"

"Can we meet them before we decide? Taking in two house-elves is a big responsibility," Harry asked.

"Of course you can! That is part of our current protocol anyway. I will bring them over so we can see how well you will get on..."

After that, Hermione and Andy went upstairs leaving Harry and Annabel with a great deal of things to consider.


	33. You are my sunshine

It did not take long for them to arrange a visit from Dudley and Matt after that. Harry knew from what Annabel had described that Dudley had changed considerably since the last time they saw each other when they exchanged their farewells at Private Drive. Yet, despite knowing what to expect, he felt a little bit shocked when he saw his cousin arriving on his flat wearing a flamboyant smart pink shirt and purple cardigan holding hands with his handsome boyfriend. Holly was delighted with their visit, and Harry felt even more stunned when he saw how good his cousin was with children. He could not believe that the boy who had once been the biggest bully of his childhood. Matt and Bel, on the other hand, would exchange whispers and giggle the whole time. All that giggling made Dudley roll his eyes and Harry had a little flashback of when he saw the two friends whispering and giggling at Annabel's mother's wedding. The only difference was that at least now, he did not feel jealous of their interaction. But he had to agree with Dudley, that behaviour was annoying nonetheless.

"Honestly Harry, they usually not that bad! Must be all this catching up they need to do after...? How long? Six, seven weeks they haven't seen each other?" Dudley said to Harry as they shared their annoyance of Bel's and Matt's behaviour.

"What are they talking about anyway?" Harry asked.

"Honey, it is probably something inappropriate for Holly's ears that you don't wanna know..." Dudley told his cousin.

By the time they were having dessert, Harry and Annabel had already broken the news about the new development on their relationship and Geoffrey's sad fate. Despite been a little bit shocked by Geoffrey's misfortune, the gay couple did not look surprised that Harry and Annabel were back together. In fact, they found out that they had a bet about how long it would take for this to happen once they found out that they had met again. Apparently, Mattew had been the winner of that one, as Dudley thought it would take much less time. When they asked the gay couple's help with the divorce process, they were nothing but happy to offer all their assistance - especially after hearing about the news about the twins and Harry's and Annabel's wish to get married as soon as possible.

Once Holly went to bed, Dudley and Annabel engaged in some business discussion, leaving Harry and Matt to entertain each other during that time. Harry suggested a wizarding chess match, and Harry was very pleased to find out that the muggle man was actually a much more challenging opponent than his fiancee had been. Overall it was a very pleasant visit, and Harry was sure that he definitely wanted to be in touch with his cousin and his partner more often from now on.

It was already middle March when they finished off placing the most powerful wards available at Annabel's childhood home, and they finally decided to move out from Harry's cosy little flat. Harry would never admit it out loud, but he felt a little bit melancholic for moving out of his place. He also felt a bit weird for be living at the same house that had been the home of Geoffrey and Annabel for so many years. The presence of the muggle man still lingered in every corner, from the pictures on the walls to his possessions that were still spread around the house, even though he was unlikely to ever be able to come back. This almost made him wish that they remained at his own flat despite its small size or had moved to Grimmauld Place instead. However, his own flat had already been magically stretched to reach its possible limits on size. Besides, Harry knew that the constantly reminded of Sirius and Kreacher that Grimmauld place would inevitably bring was unlikely to make him feel any good there neither. Besides, the old wizarding Victorian house was likely to be an enormous death trap to Annabel, as it was full of dangerous hidden magical objects, pixies and boggards. In fact, this had been the main reason behind his decision to completely disregard Grimmauld Place as a viable option for them to live.

On the other hand, Annabel and Holly seemed to be very glad to be back to their original home. Whereas Annabel was happy to be reunited with all her kitchen equipment and dancing props and costumes, Holly was delighted to have all her dolls and soft toys back. Harry was also enjoying being introduced to the marvellous new world of muggle home theatre entrainment. One of the few things he was enjoying about the change was their new habit of watching one muggle movie as a family every other day.

However, on the downside, it broke his heart every time he saw Holly sobbing as she looked through the window and saw some children going to or coming back from her old muggle primary school. Having to deny her requests for having playdates with her muggle friends was also not an easy task. The house was big enough for the three of them plus the twins with ease, but small things like that, made him believe that they were unlikely to stay there for the long term. He felt that they needed a completely new home - a fresh start.

True to her promise, the American President had personally sent Harry a letter containing all the details they had gathered from Holly's case so far. Besides the information they had gathered about the escaping criminals that had kidnapped Holly, there was also some information about the seer that had made the prophecy involving Holly. Apparently, she had been found dead inside her own house, an old hut in the middle of nowhere, and she had been laying down dead inside without a proper burial for a very long time. This removed all the hope Harry had of finding out what the prophecy said. Now, the only copy of the prophecy had already been retrieved by someone who had once posed as Holly's magical guardian. Harry had a strong suspicion of who might have been behind that robbery, and they would never willingly share its contents with him.

Following some advice given by Andromeda, Harry decided to hire a private Divination tutor so Holly would be able to learn how to better understand and control her foreknowledge. After looking around for a reliable and trustworthy suitable candidate for a while, Harry decided to accept a tip from Dumbledore's portrait and ended up calling the Grandaughter of a famous Brazilian seer that had helped him during the war against Grindelwald. She was currently the Divination Professor at Castelo Bruxo. Her hourly rate was not cheap, and the Porkeys that Harry needed to buy every time they had a lesson were very pricey. However, Holly seemed to be getting a lot from that interaction, so Harry thought that it was a well worth investment.

Their new house-elves adaptation was going well, despite Harry having to constantly remind them that they were not allowed to punish themselves if they make a mistake such as tiding their laundry on the wrong wardrobe. At the beginning when they were first introduced, they had ignored Annabel completely as being part of Harry's family, one thing that Harry had to enforce as a deal-breaker for him to accept to adopt both elve siblings. This made them quickly reconsider and start to also obey Annabel's orders in a much better way than Kreacher ever had done. That was probably due to the fact that the two little fellows were very eager to finally be adopted by a new wizarding family after being waiting for months due to the Ministry's bureaucracy. Their previous master had been an old Lady that had died with dragon pox leaving no heirs or benefactors on her will, which meant that the Ministry of Magic was responsible for rehoming them.

Eventually, the winter became spring, and even though she was able to hide it by wearing loose clothes, Annabel's bump began to discretely show. Yet, no luck with the completion of her divorce. Ron and Hermione got married during middle April, making Harry having to enforce a strong security plan in place so Holly would be able to witness the ceremony that took place at the Burrow. That was the first public event that Harry attended with his daughter Holly and showing off Annabel as his partner. Needless to say that the wizarding gossip magazines' went wild with the news, wasting no time to announce that the darling hero of the wizarding world was in a shameless relationship affair with a married muggle woman. Very few of these articles painted he or Annabel in a positive light, the extreme one having even accused Harry to be responsible for the fate of the muggle man. Harry did not mind much these comments, as he knew they were bound to happen whatever they did. The only thing that remained unknown to the public was the fact that Annabel was currently pregnant with Harry's twins.

More time went by and soon it was the Battle of Hogwart's memorial and also Holly's and Victoire's birthday. As usual, there was a ceremony conducted at the Hogwarts grounds in memory of those who had fallen on that day. For Harry, it was a special year, as he finally was going to be able to share that moment with Holly and Annabel. Harry and his family were seated in an honoured place, along with the newly wedded Ron and Hermione. That time, Annabel did not manage to hide her bump, so she ended up deciding to proudly display it by wearing a well-fitted dress that accentuated her continuously growing belly. Considering that Harry had not told many of his friends about the news yet, it was quite a shock for many people. For instance, Hagrid went over him and gave Harry such a strong hug that almost crushed all his bones. On the other hand, Molly cornered him alone, looking very concerned as she asked him if he was sure that the child that Annabel was expecting was his. He tried not to look too offended as he informed her that he did not like seeing people doubting their feelings for each other and that he genuinely hoped that the Weasley matriarch learned to respect his choice one day soon, and left her feeling very ashamed by her actions.

One very pleasant surprise for Harry was seeing Ginny accompanied by her new boyfriend Victor Krum. Despite the small awkwardness felt by them when Ginny and Victor briefly congratulated them on the children that Annabel was clearly expecting, Harry felt like a heavyweight had come out his shoulders as he saw that his ex was finally engaging in a relationship with somebody else. He cared a lot for Ginny, and seeing her with a nice chap like the Bulgarian Quidditch player warmed his heart.

After the memorial, Harry invited some of the attendees who had young children to join them to small birthday gathering that Annabel had insisted to organized for Holly's and Victorie's special day at Hagrid's hut. Fleur had been very receptive to Annabel's idea and helped out by making some magical decoration. Fleur and Annabel had quickly bonded over the fact that both were pregnant with a young daughter. Many Aurors had also been requested to stay a little bit longer in order to provide better security to the youngest Potter. Even though Harry was feeling a bit on the edge for allowing Holly to stay out for such a long period of time, and with so many people on the surroundings, he couldn't help but feel happy seeing his little girl having fun and enjoying her birthday. The fact that Holly had sworn that she hadn't foreseen anything bad happening during the party also helped to ease his nerves a little.

It was only at the beginning of the summer when Annabel and Matthew finally signed the divorce papers, as Geoffrey was deemed incapable of doing that independently. In order to celebrate the divorce, Harry and Annabel decided to host a very small dinner party gathering at her house. Dudley, Matt, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Hannah and Luna were the only guests for that private celebration. It was then that Hermione and Ron shared the news that they were also expecting their first child. Harry and all the others were over the moon with the news.

"We were originally planning to wait a little bit longer to have children, but... we really wanted to see our kids going to Hogwarts together, Harry!" Hermione told them before she received a very warm hug from Annabel.

When Holly was finally sleeping and the guests had all left their house, Harry decided to tell Annabel about his wishes to move out with her to another house.

"You know Harry, I agree with you. Even though my Mother's family has lived here for more than five generations. I agree that it is time to move out. And I think I'm starting warming up to the idea of moving out London as well. What is the point to live so near the places I like to go if I almost never allowed to visit them anyway?"

Harry nodded in agreement.

"It is true. Also, once you are no longer pregnant with the twins I should be able to take you there with ease. I'm sure that by now you are more than familiar with all the wonders of magical transportation..."

"That is true. I was also thinking... I haven't been a very good business owner these couple of months... and... I'm sure that the twins are going to be a handful once they are out. I just thought... that maybe I just should... sell it to Dudley, or... I don't know... it just doesn't feel very fair to carry on being a ghost manager like I am being at the moment..."

"You know, I've been thinking similarly regarding my Auror career... I'm currently been paid to hang around you and Holly. While I am delighted to be able to spend so much time around you guys, it doesn't feel very right neither."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I own a couple of properties that I have inherited from my parents and godfather, along with the flat that you stayed for a while. I've always left them empty, but I believe that if I rent them out, we might be able to make more money than we currently making working. And I'm not even taking your financial state into account, or the small fortune I already have inside my Gringotts vaults..."

"We should do it, then. My few other properties are already rented, but I don't mind selling some of them to make some money to go towards the acquisition of our new place..."

"I'm sure we can make it work. I was considering refurbishing my grandparent's old house. It is a huge farmhouse, not too far away from Godric's Hollow. I think you might like it there..."

"Maybe you could arrange a time to take me there so I can see it?"

"Consider it done!" he said with his best smile that was usually reserved only to her. "I can't wait to move out to the new Potter manor with my new Mrs!" He said bringing her to seat on his lap. She kissed him passionately and he answered eagerly. They had many things to sort out and organise, but that evening they were going to enjoy each other's company.

* * *

Finally, the day of their wedding arrived. They ended up deciding to do the ceremony a few days before Harry's birthday at the same small chapel in Godric's Hollow that Harry's parents had once got married. After wondering a lot what they wanted to do, and who they wanted to invite, they ended up opting to have a very private ceremony, having just under thirty guests. Harry was waiting impatiently for his late bride at the small church while Ron tried to calm down his nerves by making silly jokes. Neville and surprisingly George were being his ushers and were also waiting for Annabel's entrance with Harry at the altar. Meanwhile, Denis Creevey was taking pictures of Harry and his friends.

All their guests, muggles' and wizards' alike had already arrived and taken their seat. Harry was very surprised when he saw that Aunty Petunia had decided to come all the away from Private Drive to attend the ceremony when he saw her arriving accompanied by Dudley. His cousin gave him a little wave before they both sat down. The other few muggles attending were all Annabel's relatives that were still alive. That included her own father that was going to walk down the aisle with her, her young brother Lucca, and both of her cousin's Jess and Malcon accompanied by their father.

Andromeda was seating down talking to Kingsley's wife. Hannah, Luna and her new boyfriend Rolf Scamander were seating together at the second row. Professor McGonagall was seating next to Hagrid, Slughorn and Aberforth Dumbledore at the back of the church. Molly and Arthur were seating at the same row as Angelina, Bill, Fleur and the young Victorie.

When the Minister Shacklebolt entered the church to inform them that the bride had finally arrived, Denis went out to take some pictures some pictures of Annabel and her bridesmaids. Harry was sweating in anticipation as he positioned himself in front of the altar in front of the priest and next to Ron, who was giving him some encouraging taps on his shoulders. The music started, and soon Hermione entered accompanied by Matt, closely followed by Annabel's cousin's Jess and Malcon. Emily entered by herself, and Harry had to hold a tear when he saw Holly and Teddy walking down the aisle holding hands. The tune then suddenly changed, and Harry had almost to pinch himself to know that was not a dream. Soon she entered the small church, with a smile warmer than the sun. She was been escorted by her father, wearing a gorgeous white dress that complemented her pregnant shape and holding a bouquet made from holly berries and some lily flowers. She had her gaze fixed on him as if there was nobody else at that church but him. Harry then knew that he could not be happier if he tried.

.

.

.

They had organised half a dozen flying carriages to take all the wedding guests to Hogwarts, which was where their wedding dinner was going to be served. After considering if they should do the party on the newly refurbished Potter Manor, they ended up deciding that they weren't ready for sharing the secret location of their new place with so many people at once, even though they completely trusted all their guests. So when Minerva suggested them to use the school's dining hall, they gladly accepted her offer. Once they started the dinner, some of the castle ghosts ended up deciding to join them to the celebrations.

Despite the food been prepared by the school elves, Annabel made sure to give them the exact recipes that she wanted to see and gave them detailed instructions of how things should be. However, she could not resist the temptation of baking her own wedding cake, a four-tier double flavoured cake that had an eatable pair of ballet slippers next to a wizarding hat and a wand on the top. That cake was beautifully resting at the dessert table that had been earlier organised by Fleur and Hagrid.

Annabel's father's speech was very heartwarming, despite a couple of inappropriate jokes about Harry's and Annabel's strong ability to procreate that made the bride hide her face in embarrassment. Harry's speech was so emotive that he actually cried while he was doing it. This made every single guest to shred tears along with him. Even Aunt Petunia was discreetly using a horrid flowery napkin to dry her eyes, and Molly was sobbing finally comprehending the deepness of the feelings that the man she considered as good a son, felt for his muggle bride. Harry was only able to carry on his speech after Annabel gave him a big hug and whispered that she loved him too on his ear. Harry then had a sip of water and put all his Gryffindor determination into action so he could finish off reading the final lines of his speech. He did that looking directly to his wife and ignoring everybody else in the room until it was time for him to ask for everybody to raise their glasses to toast his beautiful bride, the mother of his children, the new Mrs Annabel Potter.

Ron's speech was exactly what one could expect from a speech delivered by Ronald Weasley - funny, truly embarrassing - especially for Harry - but also for Annabel in many different ways, but at the same time, very touching and uplifting as only someone with such an emotional connection with the groom would be able to deliver. An unexpected last speech was also delivered by Annabel's best friend Matthew.

"So... this fag hag thought she could go and live her fairy princess happily ever after without listening to my wrath! Well Bebelz, you have never been more mistaken!"

If anything, his speech definitely won the prize of the most embarrassing of the day. With a good arsenal of very dirty sexual tales and jokes that were certainly inappropriate for the many children present in the room. Luckily they were all young enough to understand or catch the meaning of his many double meaning sentences. Harry really enjoyed it though, as it was full shameful stories from her teenagerhood that he had never heard before. He finished his speech off treating Harry by informing him what he would do to him if the wizard failed to make his best friend.

The couple's first dance was quite simple despite the fact that the bride was an astonishing dancer. However, after many pieces of music had been played, Matthew asked Harry if he could steal his bride for that particular song. Needless to say that she did not come back when it was over. This time Harry did not mind it much, he used that time to talk to some of his friends and to get a drink. Dudley approached him while Harry was watching their exuberant ball-dancing moves from the distance.

"If it was any other day, it would take hours for them stop showing off. But alas, it is her wedding, and Matt promised me he was going to be a good boy tonight and don't take her away from you for too long!"

"That is ok. I have come with terms that I will never be as good as your husband on the dance floor..."

"But you must agree that they look gorgeous together... I don't know you, but even though I complain a lot, I love watching them dancing!" Dudley said with a sigh "you should go and talk to Mum. She has something that she wants to give to you..."

"Er... right..." Harry said looking at the empty table where his Aunt was seating down alone. She looked very out of place on that magical castle. Harry wondered what she was thinking after finally been allowed inside the castle that had been his mother's and his home for so many years. Harry went over to the spot she was seating wondering if she was going to give him a paper clip or something equally absurd, but the words they exchanged and what she ended up giving as wedding present really surprised him.

A nice handmade yellow woollen blanket that according to his Aunt, it was what he had been wrapped with when she found him at her doorstep after that fatidical Halloween when his parents were murdered. She also gave him Dumbledore's letter explaining everything that had happened to Lily and James. Harry felt really emotional with these presents, and he vowed to make an effort to be more in touch with the two remaining members of his mother's side of the family.

The time went on, and soon the three children present ended up sleeping on a couple of couches that had been Transfigurated by Professor McGonagall. One by one, their guests started to leave. In the end, it was only the guests that living inside the castle, plus Ron and Hermione who were going to be looking after Holly that night. After giving a goodnight kiss on their already sleeping daughter, Harry and Annabel said their farewell to inhabitants of the castle and hopped on the flying carriage that was going to take them to their brand new home.

Harry and Annabel had spent a great deal of time during the past month refurbishing the old Potter Manor. The farmhouse was enormous and they designed it carefully thinking about all the things they liked doing individually and as a family. As an example, they now had a dancing room, that also doubled as a duelling practising room for Harry. They also have an indoor swimming pool along with a jacuzzi and sauna, a greenhouse with magical and non-magical useful plants, a stable with muggle horses, but also with the Thestral that had saved Holly. They also had common farm animals such as pigs, chickens and cows.

Together, the couple had chosen every single detail that went on the house, from the details of their kitchen's tiles to the type of fabric of their curtains. They had spent a ridiculous amount of time deciding which model of sofa they should have at both their living room and their TV room, or which was the best type of bed to have on Holly's new bedroom. They rarely agreed at first on what each room should look like, but they were both masters on the art of compromising and end up getting something that both parts were happy with at the end.

Once they were there, Harry made a point to carry Annabel bride style to the halls of their new place until they got to their new bedroom. That was the first night they were going to spend at their new place.

"I can believe I have a bride in my bedroom..." Harry said with a silly smile on his face as he placed her on the corner of their new bed. "and I can't believe you are my bride, Bel..."

She returned the smile, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Our bedroom. And you better believe, _my husband_..." she savouring the sweet taste that word had left on her month.

"You are my Mrs Potter... my favourite Potter. So, Mrs Annabel Potter, this is the night that according to your father I should have waited to deflower you..." he said approaching her with a naughty grin.

"A bit late for that, isn't, husband?" she said patting her very pregnant tummy. "I don't think they liked what you said..." she said placing his hands to her belly so he could feel the twins kicking.

"What do you think they did not like? That I should have waited to deflower you...? Our little marauders should know by now that I'm always up to no good when it comes to their mother"

"No, the part you said I am your favourite Potter. I think they are feeling a bit left out..."

"I only said the truth. You are my favourite Mrs Potter; Holly is my favourite Miss Potter; and the boys, well, they will have to learn how to share..."

"I'm sure they are already learning that. But right now, their Dad is the one thing I completely refuse to share..." she said messing his hair and pulling him closer. He answered her advances with an intense kiss, and soon they were laying down on the bed.

"Bel... will you dance for me?" he begged her with pleading eyes.

She gave him a sly smile and sat up turning her back to him.

"If you help me out this dress, I surely will..."

.

.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Or at least, the end until I finish writing the sequel. There will be a very good time gap between the end of this fanfic and the beginning of its continuation. Annabel and Harry's romance will no longer be on the core of the next story. Much more action, much less romance, but drama nonetheless, just because I am a total drama queen! It will probably be a while until I can publish this continuation, mainly because I want to ensure that I will be able to provide you with a completed story - I basically don't want to mess up their neat happy ending if I cannot promise to deliver another one.
> 
> If you can't get enough of this story, know that there is a prequel already posted here under my profile. It is called Black and White.
> 
> Thank you everyone who gave me kudos, bookmarked and reviewed my story. You guys rock!!
> 
> xx


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